{"id":59261,"date":"2023-05-18T16:15:32","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T20:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=59261"},"modified":"2025-07-02T04:06:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:06:45","slug":"why-do-companies-want-to-mine-the-seabed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/59261\/why-do-companies-want-to-mine-the-seabed\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do companies want to mine the ocean floor?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This text was adapted from a Deep sea mining<\/a> blog written by Greenpeace UK. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

What is deep sea mining?<\/h2>\n\n
\"Remarque<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Note: This image is a still from a Greenpeace animation<\/a> about deep sea mining. <\/em>
It\u2019s not a photo of a real deep-sea mining operation. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

Deep sea mining is the practice of removing metals and minerals from the ocean\u2019s seabed. Thousands of metres below the surface, deposits of these metals and minerals like manganese, nickel and cobalt have built up on the seafloor into potato-sized nodules over millions of years.<\/p>\n\n

To mine these metals, gigantic machines weighing more than a blue whale would scoop deposits from the deep ocean floor. They\u2019d then pump the mined material up to a ship through up to several kilometres of tubing. Sand, seawater and other mineral waste would then be pumped back into the water.<\/p>\n\n

Deep sea mining is a very new industry. Apart from a few small tests, no actual mining has happened yet. But the companies involved are preparing to start full-scale production. And governments are deciding whether to let them go ahead.<\/p>\n\n

What are the problems with deep sea mining?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Like mining on land, deep sea mining is extremely destructive. But mining the ocean floor is hugely risky for so many reasons \u2013 because the impacts are far more difficult to predict.<\/p>\n\n

The full environmental impacts of deep seabed mining are likely to be highly damaging, both within and well beyond the areas being mined.<\/p>\n\n

The oceans are facing more pressures now than at any time in human history, and are severely threatened by overfishing<\/a> and the climate crisis<\/a>. Our oceans absorb and store carbon, and give more than three billion people their livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n

The metal and mineral deposits themselves are an important habitat for marine life. The nodules containing these metals are found 4,000 metres deep in the Pacific Ocean \u2013 where the ghost octopus lays its eggs.<\/p>\n\n

Deep sea mining companies haven\u2019t proven that they can do it safely (or even at all). They\u2019ve got a huge piece of machinery stuck on the deep sea floor<\/a>. Their tests are already creating plumes of pollution<\/a> in the Pacific. These plumes can spread for many, many miles \u2013 potentially harming all sorts of ocean life.<\/p>\n\n

The noise from deep sea mining will travel far, and be extremely disruptive to marine mammals that use sound as a primary means of underwater communication and sensing.<\/p>\n\n

Several countries \u2013 including Germany, France, Spain, Chile, New Zealand and several Pacific Island nations \u2013 think deep sea mining is risky for marine life. They are proposing a pause or a ban<\/a> on issuing licences. Canada should join these governments and support a global moratorium. <\/p>\n\n

World leaders have finally agreed a Global Ocean Treaty.<\/a> Mining the ocean floor will create further stress on the ocean at this crucial time for ocean conservation.<\/p>\n\n

Why do companies want to mine the seabed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Companies want to extract metals from the seabed to sell them to industries that need increasing amounts of manganese, cobalt, nickel and copper for one simple reason: to make a profit. To them, the sea is just another frontier to exploit for money.<\/p>\n\n

Mining companies are saying they need to mine the seabed for the metals needed to make batteries for the energy transition away from fossil fuels. But mining one of the last untouched ecosystems on Earth will never be \u201cgreen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

There are far better alternatives to deep sea mining. Improving recycling and reducing dependence on cars will help use metals more efficiently. And mining the seabed won\u2019t stop mining on land (or for that matter, the continued extraction of fossil fuels).<\/p>\n\n

Where is it happening?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Although test mining is underway, commercial deep sea mining is not yet allowed by international law. The International Seabed Authority has granted 31 contracts for exploration of opportunities. These cover over 1.5 million km\u00b2 \u2013 an area four times the size of Germany.<\/p>\n\n

Most of these contracts cover exploration for deposits in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), an area in the Pacific Ocean across the equator, between Hawaii and M\u00e9xico. The area is rich in potato-sized mineral deposits loaded with copper, nickel, manganese and other metals. They lie on the deep sea bed in huge fields.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

In July 2021, the government of Nauru announced intentions to begin deep sea mining, partnering with a Canadian company. The announcement triggered an obscure \u201ctwo year rule\u201d in international law meaning that by July 2023 mining could begin, with whatever rules are in place \u2013 or lack of them.<\/p>\n\n

Who is involved?<\/h2>\n\n

The secretive deep sea mining industry is run by mining companies headquartered in the Global North, in partnership with governments. Mining companies, like TMC The Metals Company, appear to be pushing countries to help them open up a new frontier for mining the ocean.<\/p>\n\n

Countries can sponsor companies\u2019 applications for exploration and mining contracts to the International Seabed Authority, or ISA. The ISA was founded in 1994 through the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica. It makes the rules for deep sea mining, because the seabed is outside of countries\u2019 national borders.<\/p>\n\n

The ISA\u2019s officials also seem to be pushing <\/a>for companies to be allowed to start deep sea mining. This is despite the ISA\u2019s mandate to protect the global oceans, and only allow mining to start if it can benefit humanity. <\/p>\n\n

Who would be affected by deep sea mining?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Vulnerable coastal communities, especially in developing countries, will pay the highest price.<\/p>\n\n

Peer-reviewed science is already showing that deep sea mining carries a virtual certainty of causing lasting damage to deep sea ecosystems. This means potentially severe impacts on countries and communities that depend on the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\n

The impacts of mining<\/a> the deep sea could seriously affect the fish populations that provide food and livelihoods for many Pacific communities, who are Indigenous Peoples. They have profound cultural and spiritual ties that many remote island nations have with the sea.<\/p>\n\n

\n<\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n

The nodules containing the metal deposits have taken millions of years to form and are one of the keystones of deep sea life. When they are gone, they cannot be replaced; nor can the ecosystems that thrive around them. This could cause disruption all the way up the food chain that Pacific communities \u2013 and all of us \u2013 rely on.<\/p>\n\n

Mining these deposits would destroy biodiversity and habitats<\/a> which have far reaching benefits to all life on Earth that aren\u2019t fully understood. The deep ocean is a vast reservoir of biodiversity, from glowing sharks to armoured snails, with new species being discovered every year.<\/p>\n\n

Opposition to deep sea mining<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

International opposition to the deep sea mining industry continues to grow.<\/p>\n\n