Norway at the heart of the debate on deep-sea mining
Attracted by the minerals believed to be abundant in the deep seabed, Norway could become the first country to open its waters to mining. In the past, scientists, industry, and government have successfully worked together to regulate the oil and fishing sectors and protect the environment. Will Oslo be able to build on this experience? asks Smithsonian Magazine.
On the backbone of Gakkel, Off the coast of Norway, molten rock bubbles up from deep within the Earth between shifting tectonic plates. In the darkness, black smokers harbor unique ecosystems . Endemic species of long annelids and tiny crustaceans graze on bacterial mats and undulate in fields of giant chemosynthetic tubeworms, which grow like thick grass. Tightly packed beds of sponges cling to the peaks and flanks of underwater mountains. And, amid all this life, minerals develop slowly, over millennia, in the form of sulfide deposits and manganese crusts.
These are minerals essential to the global green energy transition—copper, zinc, and cobalt. In January 2024, Norway surprised the world by announcing plans to open its waters to deep-sea mining, the first country to do so. [In December of that same year, the Norwegian government ultimately decided to suspend the project for a year.]
If all goes according to plan, as early as 2026, concessions will be awarded to companies that can begin identifying mineral deposits. A premature decision, say scientists who have spent decades mapping and studying the geology and ecology of the Norwegian seabed and the Gakkel Ridge – they do not have
Courrier International
