Letter to the Editor: ‘Barking up the wrong tree’

Dear Editor, very lately and surprisingly our news media has been bombarded with a stronger and incorporate voice calling for a moratorium against any seabed mining.

CI NEWSDede Mingi20 December 2022Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority, Rarotonga, Cook Islands News, Letter to the Editor, Polymetallic Nodules, Deep Sea Activities, Deep sea research, Exploration

‘We’re after the same thing’ – PM Brown reacts to NZ’s call for ban on seabed mining

As the New Zealand government moves towards a moratorium on deep sea mining in international waters, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown claims both governments are actually after the same thing. Matthew Littlewood and Caleb Fotheringham report.

CI NEWSDede Mingi3 November 2022Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority, Cook Islands, Rarotonga, Ban, Seabed mining, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, Prime Minister Mark Brown

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says his government’s stance on deep sea mining might end up in a ‘different vaka’ to New Zealand.

The issue has proved contentious, with various environmental groups, such as Te Ipukarea Society, calling for a moratorium or outright ban on the practice.

CI NEWSDede Mingi14 October 2022Seabed Minerals Authority, Cook Islands, Rarotonga, Moratorium, Prime Minister Mark Brown, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, Deep Sea Activities

Stakeholders want tourism and seabed mining included in talks with NZ Minister

Local stakeholders hope tourism, seabed mining and the lack of available flights will be at the forefront of any conversation during New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s visit to the Cook Islands this week.

CI NEWSDede Mingi11 October 2022Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, Cook Islands, Rarotonga

SBMA prepares inspectors for exploration expeditions

Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority’s (SBMA) held a sea survival training course this week to prepare their inspectors before sending them on exploration vessels as part of its monitoring and compliance programme.

CI NEWSDede Mingi16 September 2022Seabed Minerals Authority, Cook Islands, Rarotonga, Exploration, Sea survival training, Monitoring, Compliance, National Environment Services, Ministry of Transport

MV Seasurveyor at Avatiu Harbour

The first of the Seabed Minerals research vessels berthed at Avatiu Harbour this week. The MV Seasurveyor which is chartered by the CIC Seabed Minerals exploration company arrived on Thursday.

CI NEWSDede Mingi25 June 2022CIC Limited (CIC), CIC Ocean Research Vessel, MV Sea Surveyor, Cook Islands, Rarotonga, Seabed Minerals Exploration, Polymetallic Nodules

LETTERS: Key questions on seabed mining

Dear Editor, reading an article in the paper dated 31.05.22, the Prime Minister touched on the subject of deep sea mining as part of our nation’s plan for diversification.

CI NEWSDede Mingi2 June 2022Seabed Minerals Authority, Deep Sea Activities, Raro, Cook Islands, Polymetallic Nodules

Opinion: Keeping Cook Islands' interest at its core in seabed minerals issues

This week was a historic milestone for the Seabed Minerals Authority (Authority). We announced the three seabed minerals companies that met the qualification criteria in the Act, and would be proceeding to the next stage of the exploration licensing process.

CI NEWSDede Mingi13 November 2021Seabed Minerals Authority, Seabed Minerals Commissioner, Alex Herman, Cook Islands, Rarotonga, Seabed Minerals, Issues, Opinion, Deep Sea Exploration, Research, Cook Islands waters, Due Diligence, decision making, Marae Moana

NGOs snubbed in Seabed Minerals Licensing Panel

The non-inclusion of local non-government environmental and social expertise in the recently announced Seabed Minerals Licensing Panel ‘is an obvious gap’, says a local environment group.

CI NEWSDede Mingi3 October 2021SBMA, Seabed Minerals Authority, Seabed Minerals Licensing Panel, Chairman, Garth Henderson, Financial Secretary, Pamela Maru, Secretary of Marine Resources, Prime Minister Mark Brown

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