Radio New Zealand | 10 December 2018 The Cook Islands opposition MP Selina Napa has asked the government to reveal what changes are being planned for the Seabed Mining Act. Ms Napa said reported statements that the changes would be made public when they are tabled in Parliament “isn’t good enough”. Read the full article […]
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Radio New Zealand | 23 November 2018 By offering tenders for deep sea exploration the environmental risks of extracting minerals from the seabed will be able to be assessed, the Cook Islands government says. The government plans to open tenders for five-year, deep sea mining exploration licences at the beginning of next year. And while […]
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Radio New Zealand | 21 November 2018 In recent weeks, the government has been holding public meetings to hear feedback on its plan to open tenders for five-year, deep sea mining exploration licences at the beginning of next year. Kelvin Passfield of the Te Ipukarea Society said little was known about the biodiversity in the […]
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Cook Island News | 19 November 2018 Before matters proceed to the point of no return, we the Iti Tangata need to ask whether mining will lead to riches or to our ruin. Should we allow our Government to jeopardise the main industry of our country that is the backbone of our national economy? Does […]
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Since August 2012, Paul Lynch has led the Cook Islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority, which oversees development of the islands’ national seabed mineral resource. A lawyer with over 25 years of wide and varied legal experience in the private sector, Commissioner Lynch is shaping deep sea mining as an industry, both in the Cook Islands and […]
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Interest in deep sea mining has been accelerating due to the rising price of cobalt. The metal is an important component of EV batteries, laptops and cell phones. In October 2017, cobalt prices reached a nine-year high, trading at around US$30 per pound, tripling its 2015 value of US$10. The rise is not only seen […]
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The government of the Cook Islands, through the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC), entered into an agreement in September with U.S. based Ocean Minerals, LLC (OML) for the exclusive right for up to 18 months to prospect and explore high value polymetallic nodules over approximately 23,000 square kilometers of the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone […]
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RADIO NEW ZEALAND | 17 November 2017 “The Pacific Network on Globalisation says claims environmental costs would stop seabed mining in the Cook Islands would be thwarted by a lack of safeguards in the country’s laws. PANG co-ordinator Maureen Penjueli says the Cooks’ Seabed Minerals Act dates back to 2009 when deep-sea mining was believed […]
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RADIO NEW ZEALAND | 15 November 2017 “The Cook Islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority Commissioner Paul Lynch said the country’s Seabed Minerals Act ensured a careful, steady approach to any potential exploration or mining. He said the act was the world’s first, dedicated national legislation to control seabed minerals activities. Mr Lynch said criticism, based on […]
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RASHNEEL KUMAR on COOK ISLANDS NEWS | 3 October 2017 “In a deal worth $100,000, OML has reserved around 23,000 square kilometres, or 1.2% of the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) containing high value polymetallic (manganese) nodules for up to 18 months. This gives the company the exclusive right to apply to undertake prospecting […]
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