Deep Sea Mining

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A growing number of countries are calling to delay plans to strip-mine the seabed for metals to make electric car batteries as US defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp., the biggest corporate player in deep sea mining, exits the nascent industry.

Last week’s sale of Lockheed’s UK Seabed Resources subsidiary to Norwegian startup Loke Marine Minerals was announced just as the United Nations-affiliated organization tasked with regulating deep sea mining kicked off a conference in Jamaica. The International Seabed Authority(ISA) is meeting to hit a July deadline for approving regulations that would allow unique deep ocean ecosystems to be mined as soon as 2024. Tensions at the conference are rising as scientists, lawyers and activists charge the Authority’s administrative arm, known as the Secretariat, with pushing a pro-mining agenda. Last week, some of the ISA’s 167 member nations accused ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge of overstepping his role as a neutral administrator.

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Deep Sea Mining Loses its Biggest Corporate Backer

By Todd Woody (Bloomberg) — A growing number of countries are calling to delay plans to strip-mine the seabed for metals to make electric car batteries as US defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp.,...

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UN To Start Taking Deep-Sea Mining Applications This July​

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"International Seabed Authority"?

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Home - International Seabed Authority

ISA's contribution to the UN Decade of Ocean Science [vc_single_image image="715"

www.isa.org.jm

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Deep sea mining permits may be coming soon. What are they and what might happen?​

INTERVIEW: Deep-sea mining key to energy transition: Impossible Metals​

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A new study led by researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, published today in Nature Communications, provides first insights into the stress response of a deep pelagic jellyfish to ocean warming and deep-sea mining induced sediment plumes.

One particular and potentially large environmental stressor for organisms in the deep ocean is the environmental disturbance associated with the commercial mining of mineral resources on the seafloor. Although mining operations will target seafloor minerals, they will also disturb and pump up fine sediment off the seafloor, generating suspended sediment 'clouds' (known as plumes) along the seafloor.

Once on the ship, the collected sediment will need to be discharged back into the water column. Since there are currently no regulations at what water depth the sediment should be released, the sediment plumes that are generated like this can extend for tens to hundreds of kilometers throughout the water column.

Deep-sea mining would, therefore, affect not only animal communities on the seafloor but also those in the overlying water column, known as midwater. Since there is usually little sediment in the midwater, it is expected that midwater animals will be highly sensitive to mining-induced sediment plumes.

This is concerning as Dr. Helena Hauss, co-first author of the study and Research Director of Marine Ecology at Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), explains, "The midwater is crucial for the global ocean's capacity to store carbon, but also its inhabitants are the main food source for many fish, squid, and marine mammal species and therefore resemble a critical link in the marine food web. They have evolved under much more stable conditions compared to surface-dwelling animals, under a constant scarcity of food, and are therefore potentially more susceptible to changing conditions in their environment."

Dr. Henk-Jan Hoving, senior author and group leader of the Deep Sea Ecology group at GEOMAR, adds, "Midwater species are often fragile, gelatinous and sometimes giant organisms, with low metabolic rates that are difficult to observe in their natural environment and to perform experiments on. Their physical fragility may make them particularly vulnerable to environmental disturbance. At the same, we have only scratched the surface when it comes to exploring the midwater, and most biodiversity still remains unknown, as well as their function in the ecosystem and their tolerance to change."
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A showdown over deep sea mining is taking place in the Pacific​

Lawmakers urge Department of Defense to address Chinese seabed mining​

Russia Lambasts 'Unacceptable' US Claims to Arctic Shelf​

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Collecting this metal means going through the International Seabed Authority (isa), a UN body set up in 1994. But it has been mulling mining rules for three decades. In 2024 one of two things is likely to happen: either the ISA will publish its rules, most likely at a meeting in July, or companies will decide to go ahead without it.
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Norway is gearing up to mine precious metals from the depths of its ocean in a world first​

• Norway is set to become the first country to move forward with deep-sea mining in its waters.
• The move is controversial as it could pose a risk to marine environments.
• Industry experts don't expect deep-sea mining to start before at least the early 2030s.

Deep-sea mining could enhance climate change, a new study indicates.​

Deep sea mining: Into the deep | 60 Minutes Archive​

Picking up Nickel, Cobalt & Copper from the Ocean Floor | The Metals Company $TMC Stock​

U.S. fails to ratify ocean mining treaty; other countries rush toward underwater riches​

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The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is convening an expert scoping workshop on charting future horizons: harnessing advanced technologies for the protection and sustainable use of the international seabed area, from 3-5 April 2024 in Porto, Portugal, in collaboration with the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) of Portugal. The workshop will be held in a hybrid format (in-person and online).

Workshop objectives

The workshop aims to:
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• Identify potential partners and stakeholders to be engaged in facilitating the advancement of technological solutions for the sustainable development of mineral resources in the Area and discuss possible modalities for collaboration; and
• Assess the technological readiness for effective and responsible recovery of seabed minerals and protection of the marine environment.

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