Check out the top stories from the deep, taken from coverage between 21-28 November 2022
Calls for PNG govt to make its position on deep sea mining clear
Source: RNZ
“Communities in New Ireland in Papua New Guinea are calling on the government to make clear its position on deep-sea mining. Local communities are concerned at renewed interest in the Solwara One project to mine the seabed in the Bismarck Sea.“
In 2018, Nautilus, a deep-sea mining company, cost the government of Papua New Guinea millions of dollars when it collapsed financially. Now, ‘Deep Sea Mining Finance’ claim that they have the rights to begin mining in the Bismarck sea. Calls are mounting for greater transparency on this development.
Māori protester takes stand against deep-sea mining off Mexico
Source: Te Ao Mauri News
Author: Stefan Dimitrof
“Deep-sea mining threatens the future of the ocean and therefore threatens the future of the planet and risks putting the climate crisis in a far worse position than it already is.” – James Hita (Ngāti Whatua)
A group of Greenpeace activists protested a deep-sea mining vessel of the coast of Mexico. James Hita (Ngāti Whatua) who was involved in the protest explains his involvement, and why deep-sea mining is a Māori concern.
Deep sea-mining and ocean pollution
Source: Back to Blue Podcasts
“If all 17 exploration plans that are active in the Clarion Clipperton Zone were mined, which is conceivable over the next century before any mined area might recover, the total area of impact could be something like the size of France, so a very big area potentially impacted by mining. If all the exploration contracts that are in existence now were mined, this could be one of the largest footprints of any single industrial activity on the planet. That’s important to think about” – Professor Craig Smith.
In this in depth and conversational two parter, Back to Blue interviews the DSCC’s Phil McCabe and Professor Craig Smith on the impacts of the emerging deep-sea mining industry.
L’exploration et l’exploitation des fonds marins gelées
Source: Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes
The Government of Caledonia has drafted a law ‘freezing’ the possibility of deep-sea mining in the Coral Sea Natural Park.
TMC Continues Taking On Water
Source: Seeking Alpha
“It is hard to be enthused about an adventure so vehemently met with social opposition. With access to capital markets freezing over, risk premiums have exploded, yields on debt have mooned, and capital has evaporated following some recent notable corporate bankruptcies.“
Looking at the Metals Company from an investor’s perspective, Seeking Alpha unpacks the financial concerns surrounding the company.
Scientists discover five new species of black corals living thousands of feet below the ocean surface near the Great Barrier Reef
Jeremy Horowitz, a research fellow at the Smithsonian Institution describes the life living far below the Great Barrier Reef. Horowitz described ancient blank corals as branched and feather, fan or bush like, while others were as straight as a whip.