Earlier this year, the Norwegian government became the first country in the world to allow commercial deep-sea mining, with parliamentary approval. The Norwegian government plans to start licensing companies for Arctic seabed mining in 2025. Recently, the Norwegian government is seeking public opinion on deep-sea mining, which has attracted attention.
The Norwegian government plans to open up its Arctic waters to mining companies, covering an area of about 280,000 square kilometres. Recently, the Norwegian government proposed to open the first batch of areas to enterprises, which is about 40% of the above-mentioned area. The authorities stressed that any plan for deep-sea mining must first be approved by the Norwegian Ministry of Energy and the National Assembly.
Deep-sea mining responds to rising demand and contributes to the green energy transition
Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Aasland, said in a statement that the licenses are expected to be issued in the first half of next year. "There is a global need for minerals for a green transition, and the government wants to explore whether seabed minerals can be extracted in a sustainable way from the Norwegian continental shelf," he said. He said Norway has a long history of managing marine resources.
Some analysts have pointed out that land-based mining alone is not enough to meet the increasing demand for rare metals in various countries. This, coupled with the fact that the demand for minerals has risen further in view of the energy transition, the government has had to consider the option of deep-sea mining. Deep-sea mining extracts minerals from the seabed at depths of 800 to 6,000 meters above sea level, from which copper, lead, zinc and small amounts of precious metals such as gold and silver are obtained. In addition, companies can extract cobalt, copper, nickel, manganese and other materials from seabed rocks.
The environmental and fishing sectors are dissatisfied with the bill, and the EU is concerned
Norway has allowed deep-sea mining, drawing criticism from environmental groups and fishing groups. They say deep-sea mining can lead to damage to marine ecosystems. The European Parliament has also expressed concern, and although Norway is not a member of the European Union, the European Commission's vice president, Maroš Sefčovič, said the bloc would oversee Norway's process of opening up deep-sea mining.
Norway has said it will only approve sustainable and responsible mining plans, but environmentalists have questioned Norway's approval process.
Environmental groups say the consequences are irreversible and that recycling of existing minerals should be considered
"We know very little about the deep sea, and exploration in the deep ocean alone can have catastrophic consequences for marine life and critical ecosystems," said a Norwegian environmental leader. Environmentalists say investment in recycling and reusing our existing minerals should be considered. The Environmental Justice Foundation said in the report that an additional 16,000 tonnes of cobalt could be recovered each year, or about 10% of annual production, by improving the recycling process for mobile phones alone.