Deep-Sea Mining Called A Hunt For “Fool’s Gold” As US Considers Circumventing International Body To Issue Mining Permits

Executive order under consideration by the Trump Administration to open up the deep sea to mining would be economic folly and flout international consensus, experts say

The US government is reportedly poised to sign an Executive Order that would issue permits to companies to mine the deep sea in international waters, circumventing the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the body that regulates mining activities on the high seas.

Leading ocean experts are available to discuss why a rush to mine the deep sea is built on a deeply flawed business case and why attempts to engage in mining without the approval of the ISA would be akin to deep-sea piracy:

“This is a search for fool’s gold. Market prices for minerals and metals sought from the deep sea have sharply declined in recent years, driven by global oversupplies from conventional mining and innovations in battery chemistries. This could be the most expensive cobalt and nickel that has ever been mined on the planet,” said Dr. Douglas McCauley, a professor at UC Santa Barbara and adjunct professor at UC Berkeley.

“These trends are in part driven by reduced demand from the electric vehicle market, which has become increasingly reliant on batteries (e.g. the LFP batteries used in many Tesla models) that do not require difficult to obtain, expensive metals," said Dr. McCauley. "New innovation in ultra-fast charging stations designed for these new batteries, such as BYD’s recent announcement of charging stations that can add 400km of range in just 5 minutes, may further secure the dominance of these new batteries that do not require metals from the ocean. Another challenge may be reluctance on the part of the US to land this material in US ports given the newly discovered radioactive nature of these minerals."

“Unilateral mining of the deep sea, which is the common heritage of humankind, would be a fundamental breach of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which for over 40 years has provided stability in ocean governance,” said Duncan Currie, international legal expert and policy advisor for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. “ Every country and every person would suffer the consequences.”

“Deep-sea mining is extremely challenging technically, highly destructive, not meaningful to worldwide production, and a very expensive, financially-risky solution to a battery metals problem that existed ten years ago,” said Victor Vescovo, Founder and CEO, Caladan Capital and retired naval officer, pilot, and undersea explorer. “It will not yield the profits or royalties promised, will not solve the environmental and security problems it claims, and will destroy tens of thousands of square kilometers of virgin seafloor – just to prove it doesn’t work.”

“The Metals Company is promising regulatory certainty in a regulatory vacuum,” said Bobbi-Jo Dobush, ocean conservation policy expert and author of Deep Sea Mining Isn’t Worth the Risk. “The only certainty is that seabed mining remains an untested, wildly expensive way to get minerals we have already innovated away from.”

Who:

• Dr. Douglas McCauley, Professor UC Santa Barbara, Adjunct Professor UC Berkeley
• Victor Vescovo, Founder and CEO, Caladan Capital and retired naval officer, pilot, and undersea explorer
• Duncan Currie, Legal and policy advisor, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition
• Bobbi-Jo Dobush, Author of Deep Sea Mining isn’t Worth the Risk and ocean conservation policy expert

What:

Experts are available to discuss the failed economics behind deep-sea mining and why allowing mining activities to proceed would flout international consensus, including why:

• A rush to mine the deep sea would create economic hardship and geopolitical harm for the US without any apparent gains
• Experts project seabed mining to be economic folly – generating some of the most expensive cobalt and nickel ever mined on the planet
• US action would likely trigger a “fool’s gold” rush to mine the deep sea from competitors such as Russia and China, causing irreparable harm to vulnerable marine ecosystems and ocean health
• The release of toxic materials associated with mining represents a risk to public health globally through seafood contamination
• Deep-sea mining poses immense risks to marine habitats and ocean biodiversity

When: The executive order is currently under consideration by the US government–there is no clear date for when it may be signed.

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