Nauru, Metals Company announce revised deep sea mining agreement
Nauru President David Adeang at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. 25 August 2024
Photo:
RNZ Pacific / Lydia Lewis
Nauru has announced an update to its commercial agreement with Canadian mining group The Metals Company for deep sea mining in international waters.
The updated "sponsorship agreement" was announced in a press release from The Metals Company.
It comes at a time of increasing uncertainty in the deep sea mining industry with both the US and International Seabed Authority (ISA) respectively stating each offers a licencing pathway to mine the seabed in international waters.
Nauru president David Adeang said in the press release that The Metals Company has been a "trusted and respectful" partner to Nauru.
"We have worked to establish a responsible pathway for deep sea mineral development, one that can serve for a model for other developing states."
The area of international waters currently under the spotlight is the Clarion Clipperton Zone - a vast area of the Pacific Ocean that sits between Hawai'i, Kiribati and Mexico, and spans 4.5 million square kilometres.
The zone is of high commercial interest because it has an abundance of polymetallic nodules that contain valuable metals like cobalt, nickel, manganese and copper, which are used to make products such as smartphones and electric batteries. The minerals are also used in weapons manufacturing.
Nauru has special rights in the Clarion Clipperton Zone through the ISA, which under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has jurisdiction over it. Since 2011, Nauru has partnered with The Metals Company to explore its area of the zone for minerals through that framework.
At the same time, the ISA - which counts all Pacific nations among its 169-strong membership - has been developing a commercial mining code.
The process, which began in 2014 and is ongoing, has been criticised by The Metals Company as effectively blocking it and Nauru's commercial mining interests. The company has also praised the
US deepsea mining licencing pathway
, which was effectively reactivated through an executive order President Donald Trump issued in April.
That legislation, the Deep Sea Hard Mineral Resources Act, states the US can grant mining permits in international waters.
At face value, it offers an alternative licencing route to commercial seabed activity in the high seas to the ISA. However, any cross-over between jurisdictions and authorities remains untested.
The Metals Company
Photo:
Facebook / The Metals Company
In the press release from The Metals Company, its chief executive Gerard Barron made direct reference to Trump's order, titled 'Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources'.
He said he was heartened by its call "for a joint assessment of a seabed benefit-sharing mechanism" and was certain that "big ocean states" like Nauru would continue to play a leading role in the deep sea mining industry.
The company confirmed two weeks ago it would not be applying for a commercial mining license through the ISA in June. Instead, it has said it would apply exclusively apply through US regulations.
No mention of that decision was made in the press release.
"We remain unshakeable in our commitment to developing this project responsibly, transparently, and in a way that delivers real benefits to Nauruans," Barron said.
ISA secretary general Leticia Carvalho has previously said
the US had no authority
to offer permits in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
"Circumventing the regulatory authority of the ISA not only breaches international law, but also erodes trust," Carvalho said.
In addition to Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati and the Cook Islands have special rights in the Clarion Clipperton Zone through the ISA.
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