{"id":75129,"date":"2025-12-09T23:21:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T10:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=75129"},"modified":"2025-12-09T23:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T10:21:07","slug":"high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/","title":{"rendered":"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales – new study reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The economic potential of seabed polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands has been overstated, according to a new independent study commissioned by Greenpeace International.[1]<\/p>\n\n

The analysis shows that, once costs, market factors, and technological challenges are accounted for, deep sea mining for Cook Islands nodules is more likely to have a negative economic return.

Read the report here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Juressa Lee, Greenpeace Aotearoa seabed mining campaigner says: <\/strong>\u201cDeep sea mining companies that have made bold claims to try and win social licence in places like the Cook Islands are now being exposed – their sales pitch simply doesn\u2019t add up. Scientific warnings are crystal clear: deep sea mining will damage the oceans and harm biodiversity. <\/p>\n\n

“Millions of people across the world, including people in the Cook Islands, are concerned about the threats posed by this industry. When you add the major financial risks, it\u2019s hard to understand why anyone is still pushing this industry at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Polymetallic nodules are metal-rich rocks that sit on the deep seafloor, increasingly targeted by mining companies despite scientists\u2019 warnings of severe ecological damage. [2]<\/p>\n\n

The new report highlights several reasons why the promise of these \u201cgolden apples\u201d –  as Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown described the nodules – does not hold up. The author finds that the technologies required to extract the nodules have not been commercially demonstrated, noting that operating \u201cat depths three times greater than the Deepwater Horizon and >15 times deeper than North Sea oil, pose significant challenges to reliable operation\u201d. <\/p>\n\n

According to the author, the estimated operating costs at such depths are on a par with, or higher than, their expected market value, making commercial operations unviable. <\/p>\n\n

According to this expert’s assessment, there are no single processing facilities worldwide capable of converting raw nodules into saleable metals, and building new plants and supply chains would involve major technical and financial risks. <\/p>\n\n

Market outlook is weakest for cobalt and manganese, the primary components of value in Cook Islands nodules. The expert finds Cook Islands nodules’ estimated market value is only US$100\u2013140 per dry tonne, far below the level needed to support a profitable industry.<\/p>\n\n

The release of the study comes as the deep sea mining frontrunner, Belgium’s  Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR) announces its plan to divest its interests in the Cook Islands and refocus on activities in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). GSR intends to sell its share of the joint venture company Cobalt Seabed Resources (CSR), which was established to pursue mining in the Cook Islands. <\/p>\n\n

Although no buyer has been officially named, local reporting has pointed to speculation about a possible sale to American company Wetstone, a newly formed company with little public track record and who seems close to former International Seabed Authority Secretary General, Michael Lodge.[3][4][5]<\/p>\n\n

Lee says:<\/strong> \u201cThe future of Pacific Island nations is inextricably linked to healthy oceans – yet this future is now at risk from proposals to open the deep sea to mining, whether within national or international waters. The Pacific Ocean, and the livelihoods it sustains, must be protected.
<\/p>\n\n

\u201cResistance to seabed mining in the Cook Islands and across the Pacific is strong and persistent. Pacific Peoples will not be sidelined by corporations and powerful countries trying to impose this new form of extractive colonialism on the region.
<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAlongside our allies, who want to protect the ocean for future generations, we will continue to resist wannabe miners who want to strip the seafloor, causing irreversible harm for profits that are clearly far from guaranteed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace urges coordinated action from Pacific Island governments to safeguard their own waters by putting a ban on deep sea mining, while a global moratorium at the International Seabed Authority is needed to defend the ocean, which is of utmost importance to Pacific People’s cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n

Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1. Link to report: https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/12\/a9952321-economic-potential-of-seabed-nodules-in-the-cook-islands-dec-2025.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n

The Author: Lyle Trytten is a chemical engineer and metallurgical consultant with over three decades of global experience in sustainable battery metals, spanning R&D, project development, operations, and lifecycle and techno-economic assessments across nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium, and graphite. His expertise has been featured in The Elements of Deep Sea Mining<\/em>, the Redefining Energy \u2013 Tech podcast series, and major media outlets including Bloomberg<\/em>, Time<\/em>, The Economist<\/em>, and The Wall Street Journal<\/em>. He has also informed national and international agencies and contributed to the analytical foundation of the recent RAND Corporation report on seabed mining.<\/p>\n\n

2. Study measuring the impacts of a deep-sea mining machine finds the abundance of animals at the site decreased by 37% https:\/\/www.nhm.ac.uk\/press-office\/press-releases\/study-measuring-the-impacts-of-a-deep-sea-mining-machine-finds-t.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n

3. GSR and the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC) hold exploration rights through their joint venture, Cobalt Seabed Resources Ltd, but GSR has confirmed it is withdrawing from its Cook Islands interests https:\/\/deme-gsr.com\/news\/gsr-announces-strategic-review-of-its-seabed-mineral-interests-to-advance-priority-initiatives-in-the-ccz\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

4. GSR is potentially selling to Wetstone https:\/\/www.cookislandsnews.com\/internal\/opinion\/editorials\/te-ipukarea-society-questions-mount-as-mining-company-exits-cook-islands\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n

5. https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2025\/07\/u-s-federal-agency-clears-ways-for-deep-sea-mining-and-companies-are-lining-up\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPETITION: Stop deep sea mining\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

It\u2019s time for New Zealand to take a stand. Join our call on the New Zealand government to back a global moratorium on seabed mining.\n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Take Action\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The economic potential of seabed polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands has been overstated, according to a new independent study commissioned by Greenpeace International.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":74410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[25],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-75129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-oceans","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales - new study reveals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales - new study reveals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The economic potential of seabed polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands has been overstated, according to a new independent study commissioned by Greenpeace International.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greenpeace Aotearoa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenpeace.nz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T10:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T10:21:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"557\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Juressa Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GreenpeaceNZ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GreenpeaceNZ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Juressa Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Juressa Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad94ace6af16f4f2b07156cbdc74182\"},\"headline\":\"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales – new study reveals\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T10:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-09T10:21:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\"},\"wordCount\":855,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Oceans\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Greenpeace\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\",\"name\":\"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales - new study reveals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T10:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-09T10:21:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad94ace6af16f4f2b07156cbdc74182\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":557,\"caption\":\"Cook Island activists peacefully confront the Nautilus at Rarotonga port, holding banners reading \u2018Don\u2019t Mine The Moana\u2019 as it returns from a 21-day deep sea exploration expedition visiting sites in the mineral exploration areas licensed by the Cook Islands authorities, who are consistently supporting the development of deep sea mining. The research being conducted on the Nautilus is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration Cooperation Institute and comes just six months after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order tasking NOAA to fast track the licensing process for deep sea mining.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales – new study reveals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/\",\"name\":\"Greenpeace Aotearoa\",\"description\":\"Our mission is to ensure Earth\u2019s ability to nurture life in all its diversity.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad94ace6af16f4f2b07156cbdc74182\",\"name\":\"Juressa Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/294cdee467eed7a8d88f1c8edc1435e36aba63dc27597743729d4b320fe53023?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/294cdee467eed7a8d88f1c8edc1435e36aba63dc27597743729d4b320fe53023?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Juressa Lee\"},\"description\":\"Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ng\u0101puhi, Rarotonga) is the seabed mining campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, working to stop seabed mining in Aotearoa, protecting marine wildlife and the delicate ecosystems of the deep sea, move NZ away from destructive extractivism and towards a circular economy. The whakapapa of my wh\u0101nau is a journey through Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. From the Whangape Harbour to Rawhiti via Ngawha, down to Tauranga Moana, over to Tupapa and Ngatangiia in Rarotonga, and north again to Tahiti. My tamariki, through their p\u0101p\u0101, also whakapapa to Toi village in Niue. I was raised by a frugal mother who was always mindful of her impact on the planet, and navigated it accordingly. My dad has always enjoyed nature and instilled in us that there were responsibilities we had to be able to keep enjoying it. This was my very first influence. When I became an adult and then a mother myself, decolonising my life became a priority to raise my tamariki with an unapologetic, Indigenous worldview. Along the way and without realising, my whakaaro around kaitiakitanga began to shift, or rather, return. I felt more responsible, but also more empowered. I connect the dots between 160+ years of colonisation, extractivism, social and environmental harms and injustices and a worldview that sees the environment as separate to people. That people are somehow entitled to take, own, throw away, destroy and degrade. We are witnessing the impacts from living in a system rooted in colonialism and racism and extractive industries are devastating the planet and furthering the climate crisis. Now, wannabe miners are eyeing up the seabed in the South Taranaki Bight, and also seeking to plunder the deep seas. This problem is colossal, but so is our fight to protect te taiao. There are solutions to these issues. We must stop seabed mining before it starts.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/author\/juressa\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales - new study reveals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales - new study reveals","og_description":"The economic potential of seabed polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands has been overstated, according to a new independent study commissioned by Greenpeace International.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/","og_site_name":"Greenpeace Aotearoa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenpeace.nz","article_published_time":"2025-12-09T10:21:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-09T10:21:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":557,"url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Juressa Lee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GreenpeaceNZ","twitter_site":"@GreenpeaceNZ","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Juressa Lee","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/"},"author":{"name":"Juressa Lee","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad94ace6af16f4f2b07156cbdc74182"},"headline":"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales – new study reveals","datePublished":"2025-12-09T10:21:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-09T10:21:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/"},"wordCount":855,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg","keywords":["Oceans"],"articleSection":["Greenpeace"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/","url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/","name":"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales - new study reveals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-09T10:21:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-09T10:21:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad94ace6af16f4f2b07156cbdc74182"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/10\/fee4dd26-gp0su75o1_low-res-800px.jpg","width":800,"height":557,"caption":"Cook Island activists peacefully confront the Nautilus at Rarotonga port, holding banners reading \u2018Don\u2019t Mine The Moana\u2019 as it returns from a 21-day deep sea exploration expedition visiting sites in the mineral exploration areas licensed by the Cook Islands authorities, who are consistently supporting the development of deep sea mining. The research being conducted on the Nautilus is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration Cooperation Institute and comes just six months after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order tasking NOAA to fast track the licensing process for deep sea mining."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/high-risk-of-economic-losses-from-cook-islands-nodule-extraction-and-sales-new-study-reveals\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"High risk of economic losses from Cook Islands nodule extraction and sales – new study reveals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/","name":"Greenpeace Aotearoa","description":"Our mission is to ensure Earth\u2019s ability to nurture life in all its diversity.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad94ace6af16f4f2b07156cbdc74182","name":"Juressa Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/294cdee467eed7a8d88f1c8edc1435e36aba63dc27597743729d4b320fe53023?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/294cdee467eed7a8d88f1c8edc1435e36aba63dc27597743729d4b320fe53023?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Juressa Lee"},"description":"Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ng\u0101puhi, Rarotonga) is the seabed mining campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, working to stop seabed mining in Aotearoa, protecting marine wildlife and the delicate ecosystems of the deep sea, move NZ away from destructive extractivism and towards a circular economy. The whakapapa of my wh\u0101nau is a journey through Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. From the Whangape Harbour to Rawhiti via Ngawha, down to Tauranga Moana, over to Tupapa and Ngatangiia in Rarotonga, and north again to Tahiti. My tamariki, through their p\u0101p\u0101, also whakapapa to Toi village in Niue. I was raised by a frugal mother who was always mindful of her impact on the planet, and navigated it accordingly. My dad has always enjoyed nature and instilled in us that there were responsibilities we had to be able to keep enjoying it. This was my very first influence. When I became an adult and then a mother myself, decolonising my life became a priority to raise my tamariki with an unapologetic, Indigenous worldview. Along the way and without realising, my whakaaro around kaitiakitanga began to shift, or rather, return. I felt more responsible, but also more empowered. I connect the dots between 160+ years of colonisation, extractivism, social and environmental harms and injustices and a worldview that sees the environment as separate to people. That people are somehow entitled to take, own, throw away, destroy and degrade. We are witnessing the impacts from living in a system rooted in colonialism and racism and extractive industries are devastating the planet and furthering the climate crisis. Now, wannabe miners are eyeing up the seabed in the South Taranaki Bight, and also seeking to plunder the deep seas. This problem is colossal, but so is our fight to protect te taiao. There are solutions to these issues. We must stop seabed mining before it starts.","url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/author\/juressa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75133,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75129\/revisions\/75133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75129"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=75129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}