Keep up pressure on US to prevent deep sea mining

For mining to be allowed. On April 29, its US subsidiary asked the Trump administration to approve its plans to mine the international seabed, making it the first such company to seek the government's permission to do so.

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FROM B1 for mining to be allowed. On April 29, its US subsidiary asked the Trump administration to approve its plans to mine the international seabed, making it the first such company to seek the government's permission to do so.

The application area for the commercial mining covers 25,160 sq km in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the north-east Pacific – about 34 times Singapore's land area. TMC has teamed up with Allseas, a Swiss-based engineering firm, to develop and operate a commercial nodule collection system.

On April 15, deep-sea mining firm Impossible Metals said it has asked the US government to launch a commercial auction for access to deposits of nickel, cobalt and other critical minerals off the coast of American Samoa.

Globally, there are other potential players in Europe and in China. And while the ISA has banned mining, it has granted 31 exploration contracts to a mix of companies and governments, including Singapore.

But for now, commercial mining is some years away.

Why? Cost and equipment. Despite governments and companies discussing and investing in deep-sea exploration for years, developing the equipment has proven challenging and costly. And large-scale collecting of the potato-size nodules has never been attempted.

“If you take a mining operation, take it to the bottom of the ocean, under two miles of water, it becomes so much more challenging technologically, and thus so much more expensive,” said Prof McCauley.