TODD WOODY on OCEANS DEEPLY | 1 February 2018 As the International Seabed Authority (ISA) drafts regulations to govern the mining of the ocean for valuable minerals, the European Parliament has called for a ban on seabed mining until the environmental impacts and risks of disturbing unique deep-sea ecosystems are understood. In a resolution, the […]
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INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY | 27 November 2017 JAMAICA, Kingston – – The International Seabed Authority and l’Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) have signed an Agreement on the extension of the exploration contract for polymetallic nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone. IFREMER entered into a 15-year contract for exploration for polymetallic […]
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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 | 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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INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY | 27 October 2017 JAMAICA, Kingston – – On the 15th October 2017, the ISA delegation arrived in Warsaw for a series of official meetings and discussions with the Polish Minister Mariusz Orion Jędrysek and the Interoceanmetal Joint Organization (IOM) in Szczecin. At the Ministry of Environment, talks with Minister Jędrysek focused […]
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The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is charged with regulating deep-sea mining in the Area and its environmental impacts. To evaluate these impacts, the ISA’s rules call for contractors to delineate and monitor Impact Reference Zones (IRZs) and Preservation Reference Zones (PRZs). In general, an IRZ represents the area impacted by mining operations. A PRZ, in […]
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KIRA COLEY on MARINE TECHNOLOGY NEWS | 24 October 2017 “Over millions of years, metal particles accrete onto sediment grains slowly forming lumps of commercially-valuable metallic ores in deep aphotic basins three miles underwater. As resources dwindle, mining companies are increasingly looking to the ocean to provide the metals and minerals we need. But environmental […]
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Rarotonga, Cook Islands, September 29, 2017 – Ocean Minerals, LLC (OML) and the government of the Cook Islands, through the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC), have entered into an Agreement that will reserve approximately 23,000 square kilometres within the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) containing high value polymetallic nodules for up to 18 months to […]
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