30 May 2023
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) is a very large area of the Pacific Ocean located between Hawaii and Mexico. A deep sea abyssal plain, it is scattered with nodules of highly valuable minerals. These nodules are aggregates of minerals such as iron and manganese hydroxides, materials that are predicted to be in increasingly high demand as […]
04 Apr 2023
Deep-sea mining negotiations closed in Kingston, Jamaica, with member countries of the Council hotly debating but failing to agree on a procedure to handle applications for provisional licenses after a deadline expires on 9 July 2023. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) are meeting intensively in 2023 with the aim of agreeing and adopting deep-sea mining […]
28 Mar 2023
Loke Marine Minerals (Loke) has announced the acquisition of deep-sea mineral business UK Seabed Resources (UKSR) from Lockheed Martin UK. UKSR holds a 100% interest in two deep sea mineral licences located in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, sponsored by the United Kingdom. The licences are issued by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). […]
02 Aug 2022
Scientists have found more than 30 potentially new species living at the bottom of the sea. Researchers from the UK’s Natural History Museum used a remotely operated vehicle to collect specimens from the abyssal plains of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the central Pacific. Previously, creatures from this area had been studied only from photographs. The study, published in […]
26 Jul 2022
New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Science examines the potential for underwater noise pollution from seabed mining operations, which could affect the understudied species that live in the deep sea—the largest habitat on Earth. The study by scientists from Oceans Initiative, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan, Curtin University in […]
21 Jun 2022
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) has published a briefing paper on deep-sea mining. Discussing the significant reputational, regulatory, and operational risks associated with plans to mine the deep seabed of minerals, the paper addresses how financial institutions should respond to the deep-sea mining sector. It also lays out how financial institutions wishing […]
07 Jun 2022
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) has published a briefing paper on deep-sea mining. Discussing the significant reputational, regulatory, and operational risks associated with plans to mine the deep seabed of minerals, the paper addresses how financial institutions should respond to the deep-sea mining sector. It also lays out how financial institutions wishing […]
06 Apr 2021
Dozens of ventures, most of them government-backed, have been exploring vast areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans to assess their viability for mining and several companies have developed prototypes of “nodule collectors”, giant robotic machines that would drive over the seabed, gathering the rocks and piping them up to ships at the surface. Claudia […]
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