SEABED COUNCIL TAKES UP POLYMETALLIC SULPHIDES, COBALT-RICH CRUSTS

SEABED COUNCIL TAKES UP POLYMETALLIC SULPHIDES, COBALT-RICH CRUSTS

(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)

KINGSTON, 4 July -- The Council of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston, began considering this morning, for the first time, two recently discovered but widespread mineral resources on the deep ocean bed  -- polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich crusts.

The Authority’s Secretary-General, Satya N. Nandan, introducing the topic, presented a secretariat paper containing suggestions for the content of regulations to govern all exploration for these minerals where they occur on the seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Mr. Nandan observed that the regulations would have to differ in several ways from those that the Authority adopted last July for polymetallic nodules.  For example, because the deposits were scattered across the seabed, smaller sites would have to be assigned to potential miners.  In addition, the Authority might be given the right of equity participation with those commercial and national developers that will contract with the Authority for exploration rights.

Drawing from information gathered at a workshop convened by the Authority in Kingston in June 2000, the Secretary-General noted that mining these resources might be even more difficult than exploiting polymetallic nodules.  One reason is that they are attached to the seabed, unlike polymetallic nodules, which lie about on the ocean floor.  Consequently, the environmental consequences of mining might be more severe.

The Council also heard a presentation by Jean-Pierre Lenoble, a French geologist and member of the Authority’s Legal and Technical Commission, who described the physical characteristics of the resources and discussed some of the implications for exploration and extraction.

At the suggestion of the Russian Federation, which originally raised this issue in the Authority in 1998, the Council agreed to begin hearing comments by delegations at a later meeting, at a time to be fixed.

Also this morning, Jean-Baptiste Sambo, the Authority’s Information Technology Manager, described work being done to establish a central data repository and an environmental database on seabed matters, including all types of minerals.  The aim is to assemble technical information from seabed contractors and other sources, and to make it generally available through the World Wide Web.

On another matter, the Council heard further remarks on the composition of its Legal and Technical Commission, in advance of the election of a new slate of members, set for Friday, 6 July.  It agreed to continue this discussion at its next meeting, tomorrow morning, 5 July, following a meeting of the Assembly.

The Council completed its slate of officers, electing Trinidad and Tobago by consensus as a Vice-President, on the nomination of Argentina for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States.  The others, elected yesterday, are Indonesia, Portugal and Sudan.

Polymetallic Sulphides and Cobalt-Rich Crusts

      The seabed mineral resources which the Council began considering this morning –- hydrothermal polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts –- were unknown until just over 20 years ago.

Polymetallic (or metalliferous) sulphides are deposits of sulphide minerals containing copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold in varying amounts.  They occur at the boundaries where the tectonic plates beneath the planet’s surface are pushing against one another or spreading apart, allowing hot magma from deep below the crust to rise towards the surface through vents.  They are formed when seawater in contact with these superheated areas mixes with the cold water of the deep sea, causing minerals dissolved in the water to precipitate (be transformed into solids) on or under the seabed.  The deposits occur as hot vent fluids, fine-grained muds, chimneys (“black smokers”), surface mounds, and as veins and massive deposits in the sub-seabed.  Seabed sulphides are found at depths of 1,500 to 3,000 metres.  Significant deposits may occur in many parts of the world’s oceans, most of which have yet to be explored.

Cobalt crusts, also known as manganese or metalliferous oxide crusts, have many of the same minerals as polymetallic nodules (iron, manganese and nickel, with some copper and cobalt) but may have a higher proportion of cobalt, up to

1 per cent, and sometimes platinum.  Like polymetallic nodules and sulphides, their minerals are precipitated from seawater.  Deposits occur as hard encrustations on the sides of islands and on seamounts between 800 and

2,400 metres down.  They are widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean and vary in thickness from mere stains to more than 40 centimetres.

The Council is considering these resources in response to a request by the Russian Federation, made in 1998, that the Authority adopt rules, regulations and procedures for their exploration.

Introducing the topic today, Secretary-General Nandan recalled that regulations should be adopted no more than three years after such a request, according to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the

1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI (seabed provisions) of the Convention.  However, he observed, the priority task of the Authority had been to adopt legislation governing the exploration and exploitation of polymetallic nodules.

In the light of the Russian request, he continued, the Authority had conducted a workshop in June 2000, aimed at providing information that would assist in formulating a possible regime for prospecting and exploration.  The secretariat had then prepared a paper (document ISBA/7/C/2) elaborating the possible elements of such a regime and outlining areas of variance from the regime for polymetallic nodules.

For example, he said, the system for allocating exploration areas would have to be different.  In the case of polymetallic nodules, since the nodules were lying atop the seabed it was relatively easy to divide an area into two parts of equal estimated commercial value.  (Under the so-called “parallel system” for nodules, one of these parts is reserved for the Authority while the seabed contractor works on the other.)  On the other hand, individual deposits of polymetallic sulphides and cobalt crusts were relatively small and hard to evaluate without assessing their thickness.  Moreover, no single site could sustain an economically viable mining operation; therefore, potential contractors would have to operate simultaneously in several different locations.

As to the size of allocated areas, he suggested that they would have to be much smaller than the 75,000 square kilometres for each contractor under the regulations for nodule exploration, because the resources were confined to a scattering of small sites.  Mr. Nandan hoped that the Authority would avoid the mistake of allocating areas “too generous” in size, as had happened in the case of nodules.

He went on to say that the new regime would have to include a system that would continue to ensure full participation by the international community.  This could be achieved by enabling the Authority to acquire an equity interest of at least 20 per cent in all operations.  This equity interest might increase up to

50 per cent through negotiations between the Authority and the contractor.  “This is not a tax; it is a participation right”, he explained.  “It is in lieu of a reserved site.”

The regulations for polymetallic sulphides and cobalt crusts must also deal with the issue of overlapping claims, where different entities applied for the same area, he stated.  The basic principle should be first-come, first-served.  The secretariat paper proposed a procedure for resolving such claims on a fair and equitable basis.  In the event of a conflict, the Council would determine the area or areas to be allocated to each applicant.

Membership of Legal and Technical Commission

Papua New Guinea raised several questions concerning guidelines for the election of members of the Legal and Technical Commission, centring on the avoidance of conflict of interest.  He also said the interests of economic interest groups -- developing countries, land-based mineral producers and pioneer investors -- must be considered in evaluating candidates, along with equitable geographical distribution.

Papua New Guinea questioned the status of one candidate who, he said, appeared to have an interest in an investor activity.  The Commission must be perceived as entirely independent lest potential investors lose confidence in the Authority.

The Russian Federation, responding to the concerns raised by Papua New Guinea, said the emphasis must be on preventing financial conflicts of interest on the part of members.  The Russian candidate, Ivan F. Gloumov, had recently signed the contract between the Authority and Yuzhmorgeologiya, a state enterprise, but had done so as Deputy Minister and State Secretary of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, to give more importance to it.  The candidate had no financial interest in the enterprise.

The Russian Federation also expressed the view that the composition of the Commission should be defined based on its workload.  He proposed that the Council fix the number of members for the next five years and choose members based on the expertise required for the work to be done.

The Secretary-General reminded the Council that Commission members were required to make a declaration that they had no financial interests in seabed activities.

Argentina, China and Jamaica believed that a discussion on candidates’ qualifications was premature until the list of nominees was closed at 6 p.m. today.  Jamaica noted that the Law of the Sea Convention spelled out the required qualifications.

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