Cooks opposition in the dark over seabed mining

The Cook Islands opposition MP Selina Napa has asked the government to reveal what changes are being planned for the Seabed Mining Act. Ms Napa said reported statements that the changes would be made public when they are tabled in Parliament “isn’t good enough”.

Cooks' deep sea mining exploration will lead to impact assessment

By offering tenders for deep sea exploration the environmental risks of extracting minerals from the seabed will be able to be assessed, the Cook Islands government says. The government plans to open tenders for five-year, deep sea mining exploration licences at the beginning of next year. And while there have been concerns raised about the environmental impact of deep sea mining, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Brown, said the exploration phase would have a very low impact.

Deep Sea Mining from a Pacific Island State Perspective: An Interview with Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Commissioner Paul Lynch

Since August 2012, Paul Lynch has led the Cook Islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority, which oversees development of the islands’ national seabed mineral resource. A lawyer with over 25 years of wide and varied legal experience in the private sector, Commissioner Lynch is shaping deep sea mining as an industry, both in the Cook Islands and […]

Cobalt on the Rise

Interest in deep sea mining has been accelerating due to the rising price of cobalt. The metal is an important component of EV batteries, laptops and cell phones. In October 2017, cobalt prices reached a nine-year high, trading at around US$30 per pound, tripling its 2015 value of US$10. The rise is not only seen […]

Cook Islands Partners to Explore Pacific Bounty

The government of the Cook Islands, through the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC), entered into an agreement in September with U.S. based Ocean Minerals, LLC (OML) for the exclusive right for up to 18 months to prospect and explore high value polymetallic nodules over approximately 23,000 square kilometers of the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone […]

Lack of environmental safeguards highlighted in Cooks legislation

“The Pacific Network on Globalisation says claims environmental costs would stop seabed mining in the Cook Islands would be thwarted by a lack of safeguards in the country’s laws. PANG co-ordinator Maureen Penjueli says the Cooks’ Seabed Minerals Act dates back to 2009 when deep-sea mining was believed to be low risk, high return. She said in 2017 the risks to the environment were still little understood.”

Environmental cost will likely stop Cooks’ seabed mining

“The Cook Islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority Commissioner Paul Lynch said the country’s Seabed Minerals Act ensured a careful, steady approach to any potential exploration or mining.

He said the act was the world’s first, dedicated national legislation to control seabed minerals activities.

Mr Lynch said criticism, based on objections to seabed mineral prospecting in other countries, is superficial and close-minded.”

Cook Islands Signs Seabed Minerals Deal

Rarotonga, Cook Islands, September 29, 2017 – Ocean Minerals, LLC (OML) and the government of the Cook Islands, through the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC), have entered into an Agreement that will reserve approximately 23,000 square kilometres within the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) containing high value polymetallic nodules for up to 18 months to […]

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