Review of the Current State of Development and the Potential for Environmental Impacts of Seabed Mining Operations
Michelle Allsopp1, Clare Miller1, Rebecca Atkins2, Steve Rocliffe3, Imogen Tabor1, David Santillo1 & Paul Johnston1
Greenpeace Research Laboratories Technical Report (Review) 03-2013: 50pp.
Executive Summary
Currently, there are a range of mining operations in the shallow seabed, including diamond mining in Namibia and Tin mining in Indonesia. Due to rising demand for minerals and metals and declining land-based resources, there has been a recent surge of interest in exploration of both shallow and deep sea resources. However, there are environmental concerns with mining the seabed. Only a fraction of the deep sea has been scientifically studied to date and there have been no commercial scale mining trials so far. Nonetheless, given the nature, scale and locations of proposed seabed mining activities serious and, in some cases, widespread negative impacts on habitats and marine life can reasonably be expected.
Marine habitats which are being explored for prospective mining include hydrothermal vents (deep sea geysers) which host a unique biodiversity; seamounts (underwater mountains) which support an abundant and rich biodiversity; and manganese nodules which take millions of years to form and support sponges and other marine life. There are conservation concerns regarding the destruction of these habitats by mining, the resulting loss of biodiversity and the uncertainty that habitats and biodiversity may not recover once mining has ceased.
(i) Mineral Deposits of Commercial Interest to Mining
Manganese Nodules (MN), Cobalt-rich Crusts (CRC), and Seafloor Massive Sulphides (SMS) are the three major types of marine mineral deposits that are recognised in the world’s deep seafloor environment which are the main focus of exploration and mining.
------1Greenpeace Research Laboratories, School of Biosciences, Innovation Centre Phase 2, Rennes Drive, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RN, UK. 2Rebecca Atkins and 3Steve Rocliffe are independent consultants on whose work (carried out under contract to Greenpeace) parts of this report are based. Our thanks to Lucy Anderson, Alicia Craw, Isabel Leal, Richard Page, Eleanor Partridge and Sofia Tsenikli for their valuable comments during the preparation of this report.
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In summary the main reserves for prospective marine mining are: