The Seabed Minerals Authority (Authority) wishes to announce that recommendations to grant seabed minerals (SBM) exploration licences to three applicants have been made, namely:

CIC Limited (CIC)
CIIC Seabed Resources Limited (CIICSR)
Moana Minerals Limited (Moana Minerals)

Licensing Panel Evaluation

In December last year, the Seabed Minerals Licensing Panel (Panel) evaluated the three applications before making their recommendations to the Minister for Seabed Minerals, Prime Minister Mark Brown, to grant.

“Our Panel evaluations included assessing the proposed exploration activities, the applicants’ financial resources and technical ability, their compliance and risk management systems and national interest,” said Panel Chairman Garth Henderson.

Due to travel restrictions, the Panel held its deliberations semi-remotely. Half of the members connected virtually from the United Kingdom, Fiji, China, and South Africa. The remaining New Zealand and Cook Islands members deliberated in Rarotonga.

“I was impressed with the expertise and calibre of our Panel members. We had coverage of all the expert fields, which made for robust discussions during our question and answer sessions with the applicants, and in our evaluations of the applications” said Henderson.

Licensing Panel deliberations which took place between 13 - 17 December 2021

“Overall I am very pleased with the process that we followed as a Panel, and I believe we have fulfilled our role as intended. I am honoured for the role I played in ensuring the Panel’s recommendations were in the best interests of the Cook Islands,” said Henderson "I would like to thank my fellow Panel members for their contributions and the Authority for their role as secretariat to the Panel”.

Chair Garth Henderson briefing Prime Minister Brown on the Panel's Recommendations with the Authority

Preparation of Exploration Licences

The Authority discussing next steps and the provision of draft licence with an applicant (CIICSR)

Following Prime Minister Brown’s acceptance of the Panel’s recommendations, the Authority prepared draft exploration licences for each of the applicants, with legal advice provided from the Crown Law Office.

The draft exploration licences were based on the model licence set out in the SBM Exploration Regulations, and also included specific conditions from the Authority to ensure licence holders ongoing compliance with their obligations.

A final briefing with Prime Minister Brown on the draft exploration licences was held on 7 February 2022, with the chairs of the Advisory Committee (Bishop Tutai Pere), Licensing Panel (Henderson) and Selection Panel (Ben Ponia) also present.

The Authority briefing Prime Minister Brown on the final draft licences.

The three draft exploration licences are currently with Cabinet for consideration.

“To be clear, the exploration licences haven’t been given Cabinet approval yet. These documents are now with Cabinet and we expect to be notified of their decision sometime next week,” said SBM Commissioner Alex Herman.

Current stage of Licensing Process

Key features of the licensing process included:

Completion checks by the Authority in March 2021
Due diligence assessments completed by the Authority in November 2021
Public notice of the applications in November-December 2021, which included question and answer sessions between the SBM Advisory Committee and the applicants
Evaluation of the applications and recommendations by the Panel in December 2021
Preparation of the draft licences by the Authority in January-February 2022
Ongoing updates on the licensing process through public consultations, news releases, website, social media, radio and television.

“This has been a lengthy and robust licensing process since we launched in October 2020”, said Herman “We have put in considerable time and effort to ensure that we have followed each and every one of the licensing steps required, and that we have kept our Cook Islands public informed on our progress”.