mining

Scientists express concern for what mining the deep ocean will mean for existing denizens of the abyss

8 November, 2018

** Please note: the DSCC is of the view that deep-seabed mining is neither imminent or necessary, as may be implied by the author of the article below. **

Source: The Economist

Diva Amon, a researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, spotted her first whale skull in 2013, during an expedition to the Clarion Clipperton Zone (ccz) in the tropical Pacific. It sat on beige silt, some 4,000 metres beneath the sea’s surface, and was entirely covered in a black coating. Her find was twice notable. First, the skull’s coating meant it was millions of years old, for it was made of the same slowly accumulating metallic oxides as the potato-like ore nodules that are drawing miners to the area. Second, the discovery highlighted how little is known about the deep ocean. Dr Amon’s whale skull, and others like it, raise questions about the trade-offs between the economic gains of mining the seabed and that mining’s environmental consequences.

Continue reading Scientists express concern for what mining the deep ocean will mean for existing denizens of the abyss

The tiny sponge that could help preserve our deep oceans

31 October, 2018

Source: Natural History Museum (UK)
Author: Katie Pavid

Scientists have collected data on a tiny sponge thought to be at risk from seabed mining.

This newly discovered species could be a ‘canary in a coal mine’ to allow scientists to monitor the impacts of this new industry.

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) is a vast area of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii. At six million square kilometres, it is roughly 24 times bigger than the UK.

The zone is important because it’s the world’s largest area of ocean that is targeted for deep-sea mining. Mineral companies and nation states, eager to secure access to precious metals, are attracted to the area because it is rich in polymetallic nodules – small chunks of minerals scattered on the seafloor.

Continue reading The tiny sponge that could help preserve our deep oceans

These parts of the South African ocean – home to ancient coral and sea slugs that can fight cancer – will now be protected

29 October, 2018

Source: Business Insider South Africa
Author: Jay Caboz

South Africa has launched 20 new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), that together cover an area two and a half times the size of the Kruger National Park, some 50,000 square kilometres.

After it was signed off last week by cabinet, 5% of South Africa’s waters are now protected areas, compared to 0.4% previously. This means that fishing won’t be allowed in these areas.

Continue reading These parts of the South African ocean – home to ancient coral and sea slugs that can fight cancer – will now be protected

Novel ecosystems in the deep sea

24 October, 2018

Source: Ecologist
Author: Oliver Tickell

Innovative research is uncovering previously unknown species in deep seas vulnerable to over-fishing, pollution and habitat destruction.

Oceans researcher and campaigner Alex Rogers first experienced the full visual impact of ocean plastic pollution in 2015: “I was diving in Honduras in 2015 at Utila in the Bay Islands and there were all these beautiful coral reefs, but as we came around the island we were faced with a raft of rubbish stretching out as far as you could see: plastic bottles, expanded polystyrene, fibreglass, every kind of human waste you could imagine … I have never witnessed such a huge quantity of debris. It was horrific.”

Not that it was his first brush with ocean plastic. That had come three years earlier, when he and his team were exploring seamounts in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Antarctica.

Continue reading Novel ecosystems in the deep sea

PNG earthquakes raise concerns over seabed mining project

15 October, 2018

Source: Radio NZ

A campaigner against deep sea mining says recent earthquakes in Papua New Guinea’s Islands region mean a proposed mining project is a disaster waiting to happen.

On Thursday last week, a magnitude 7.0 quake struck off the south coast of New Britain island, the second major quake in the area this year.

Meanwhile, Canadian company Nautilus Minerals is pushing ahead with its Solwara 1 project, which will dredge the seafloor between the islands of New Ireland and New Britain.

Helen Rosenbaum from the Deep Sea Mining Campaign said the seismic activity only makes the project more of a threat to PNG.

Continue reading PNG earthquakes raise concerns over seabed mining project

Nautilus are you nuts! Second large earthquake near proposed Solwara 1 site

12 October, 2018

Source: Deep Sea Mining Campaign

The United States Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck close to the proposed Solwara 1 deep sea mine near in Papua New Guinea yesterday at 7am local time. This follows a magnitude 6.6 quake nearby in March.

Dr. Helen Rosenbaum, of the Deep Sea Mining Campaign said: “Thankfully there have been no reports of damage or injury. However, this is the second large earthquake this year right near the Solwara 1 deep sea mine proposed by Canadian company Nautilus.¹ It’s also in the vicinity of several other exploration tenements in the Bismarck Sea between East New Britain and New Ireland Provinces that Nautilus aspires to turn into sea floor mines.”

Dr. Rosenbaum continued, “Can you imagine the damage and pollution that would occur if Solwara 1 and these other proposed deep sea mines become a reality? Nautilus plans to have a 1.6 km long pipe moving ore slurry from the sea floor to the surface. An Independent oceanographic assessment indicates that currents in Bismarck Sea would carry pollution from the Solwara 1 shorewards towards New Ireland province, the Duke of York Islands and possibly to the coast of East New Britain.²

“Where are our emergency response plans?”‘ asks Jonathan Mesulam from the Alliance of Solwara Warriors³ and a local community leader whose village is located in New Ireland province, only 25km from the proposed Solwara 1 project.

“There is already great uncertainty about the environmental damage that will occur from the normal operation of Solwara 1. But such serious earthquakes will cause a catastrophe! Nautilus’s equipment has never been tested under these extreme conditions. We have no capacity at either provincial or national level to deal with such an event.”

Jonathon Mesulam continued, ” Papua New Guinea sits right on the Pacific Ring of Fire. What was our Government thinking by approving Solwara 1. And not only did they approve the project but they have also invested heavily to purchase a 15% stake in this experimental venture. The company’s only credible shareholder Anglo American divested itself of this dodgy project in May and Nautilus’s share price has now hit an all-time low.^4,5 Why is our National Government still backing this loser?”

For more information

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Jonathan Mesulam, Alliance of Solwara Warriors
mesulamjonathan[at]gmail.com, +675 7003 8933

AUSTRALIA
Helen Rosenbaum, Deep Sea Mining Campaign,
hrose[at]vic.chariot.net.au, +61 413201793

NOTES

[1] The site for the proposed Solwara 1 mine is located the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea, approximately 25 km from the coastline of New Ireland Province, about 35 km from Duke of York Islands and 60 km from Kokopo township in East New Britain.

[2] Physical Oceanographic Assessment of the Nautilus Environmental Impact Statement for the Solwara 1 Project – An Independent Review, November 2012. http://www.deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org/wp-content/uploads/EIS-Review-FINAL-low-res.pdf

[3] The Alliance of Solwara Warriors is a growing group of communities and supporters opposing sea bedmining from Madang, East New Britain, New Ireland, Manus and Milne Bay Province

[4] Anglo American to exit stake in deep sea mining company, Neil Hume, Financial Times, 4 May 2018 https://www.ft.com/content/ad58aee6-4fad-11e8-a7a9-37318e776bab; Anglo American to end investment in deep sea mining company Nautilus, Reuters, 4 May 2018; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-anglo-american-m-a/anglo-american-to-end-investment-in-deep-sea-mining-company-nautilus-idUSKBN1I523Z

[5] Nautilus website stock information, http://www.nautilusminerals.com/irm/content/stock-information.aspx?RID=269&RedirectCount=1

Arcadia Supports ‘Out of Sight Out of Mind’ Deep Ocean

4 October, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1 October 2018

The deep sea is a hidden and neglected area of ocean conservation. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’, work to protect the area is poorly funded despite being subject to multiple pressures from climate change, pollution, destructive fishing and the new threat of deep seabed mining.

A new grant from Arcadia[1] – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin – is, however, helping to change that. The grant will enable the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) to continue working to bring much needed attention and protection to the deep over the coming five years.

Continue reading Arcadia Supports ‘Out of Sight Out of Mind’ Deep Ocean

Deep-Sea Mining for Rare-Earth Metals Looms, as Do Environmental Questions

28 September, 2018

Source: Bloomburg BNA
Author: Adam Ellington and Stephan Lee

Once thought too expensive and too difficult, commercial scale mining of the deep sea is poised to become a reality as early as 2019. But scientists warn reaching rare minerals on and under the sea floor could cause irreversible damage to an environment that is still poorly understood.

Continue reading Deep-Sea Mining for Rare-Earth Metals Looms, as Do Environmental Questions

Observing the development of a deep-sea greenhouse gas filter

28 September, 2018

Source: Science Daily
Author: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Large quantities of the greenhouse gas methane are stored in the seabed. Fortunately, only a small fraction of the methane reaches the atmosphere, where it acts as a climate-relevant gas, as it is largely degraded within the sediment. This degradation is carried out by a specialized community of microbes, which removes up to 90 percent of the escaping methane. Thus, these microbes are referred to as the “microbial methane filter.” If the greenhouse gas were to rise through the water and into the atmosphere, it could have a significant impact on our climate.

Continue reading Observing the development of a deep-sea greenhouse gas filter

Discovery of vibrant deep-sea life prompts new worries over seabed mining

21 September, 2018

Source: Nature
Author: Amy Maxmen

“Gummy squirrels,” single-celled organisms the size of softballs and strange worms thrive in a Pacific Ocean zone some considered an underwater desert.

Deep in the eastern central Pacific Ocean, on a stretch of sea floor nearly as big as the continental United States, researchers are discovering species faster than they can name them. And they are exploring newfound fossil beds of whales that lived up to 16 million years ago.

The findings — many reported for the first time last week at the Deep-Sea Biology Symposium in Monterey, California — have come as a shock. Some scientists had thought these vast underwater plains, 4,000–5,500 metres below the ocean surface, were relatively lifeless. But that is changing just as nations and corporations prepare to mine this patch of the Pacific sea bed for cobalt, manganese and other elements for use in technologies such as smartphones and electric cars.

Continue reading Discovery of vibrant deep-sea life prompts new worries over seabed mining