Martha Henriques for the BBC | 7 January 2019 Off the coast of Okinawa, a slim stretch of land among Japan’s southern Ryuku islands, thousands of metres below the surface, there are the remains of extinct hydrothermal vent systems scattered about the ocean floor. The minerals at these long-dead former vent sites are now gaining […]
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INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY | 11 January 2018 JAMAICA, Kingston – – The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority has released the submissions from member States and other stakeholders to the “Draft regulations on exploitation of mineral resources in the Area” (ISBA/23/LTC/CRP.3*) issued by the Secretariat on 25 August 2017, including responses to the list of […]
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Happy 2018 and welcome to our new year’s edition of the DSM Observer. As our readers return from holiday breaks and family gatherings, we embark together on what is shaping up to potentially be one of the most pivotal years yet for deep sea mining. 2017 laid the framework for much of what lies ahead […]
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Commentary by DOUGLAS MCCAULEY and PAUL DESALLES on MONGABAY | 27 December 2017 1. U.S. drops out of Paris In Mongabay’s 2015 ocean top 10 list, they celebrated the adoption of the Paris Agreement as a monumental achievement for slowing the warming, acidification and deoxygenation of our global oceans. In 2017, remaining nations like Afghanistan, […]
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KELLY MARTIN on ON THE TIDE | 15 December 2017 “Improved technology is also allowing humans to exploit deep ocean resources in ways that could be extremely damaging. Last month, Japan became the first country to successfully mine the deep sea on a large scale. A company called Nautilus Minerals is also now licensed to […]
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During October-November 2017, Secretary-General Michael Lodge and his staff at the ISA Secretariat have been busy advancing and promoting the work of the ISA. Noteworthy milestones include: 15 October 2017. An ISA delegation led by Secretary-General Lodge visited Poland for a series of official meetings and discussions with the Polish Minister of Environment Mariusz Orion […]
Read More INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY | 6 November 2017 JAMAICA, Kingston – – HE Hiromasa Yamazaki, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan, today presented his credentials to Secretary-General, Michael Lodge, as the new Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Seabed Authority. Ambassador Yamazaki is also Ambassador to Jamaica and non-Resident Ambassador to Belize. During his meeting […]
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The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) confirmed in late September that an effort to extract zinc and other metals from a hydrothermal deposit has been successful. The test, conducted in 1,600 m of water off Okinawa, is the world’s first successful mining and […]
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International Seabed Authority (ISA) Contractors have a legal obligation to provide and fund training opportunities for young men and women Developing States. The following new candidates have been accepted for training placements since July: China (announced 1 August 2017) The China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) offered three training positions: Md. Bazlar […]
Read More THE JAPAN TIMES | 26 September 2017 “Japan has successfully tapped into a deposit of deep-sea mineral resources from a deep-water seabed off the coast of Okinawa, the economy ministry said Tuesday, the largest such extraction of its type. It is the first time metals have been mined from the seabed in such quantities using […]
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