Deep-Sea Mining

🌱 Why is deep-sea mining significant? Deep-sea mining “could supply key metals for the energy transition”. It is estimated that the polymetallic nodule reserves found on the sea floor could be used to produced 280 million electric vehicles. 🌱 Do we understand its effects? Our knowledge of deep-se

🌱 What mining is planned? The exploration and extraction of deep-sea minerals is currently focused on polymetallic manganese nodules, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, and polymetallic sulphides. 🌱 What exploration is ongoing? The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has issued a total of 31 lic

🌱 Is deep-sea mining necessary? The Norwegian government “argues that deep-sea mining is crucial for the world’s energy transition, as it could dramatically increase the supply of critical minerals needed for the shift toward electrification”. Yet, over 800 marine science and policy experts – as we

🌱 When will licenses be given out? While seabed explorations are ongoing, deep-sea mining has not yet commenced. Companies have, however, been allowed to file permits and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has been reviewing applications for the past year. After the new rules on deep-sea mini