Norway's Deep-Sea Mining: Controversies and Opportunities

Norway's deep-sea mining efforts promise billions in minerals but face significant environmental and legislative challenges.

### Norway's Deep-Sea Mining Race: Tapping Billions in Critical Minerals
* ⛏️  Norway is racing to tap into valuable deep-sea minerals, with an estimated **$92 billion worth of resources** in an area the size of Nevada near Svalbard.
* 🌊  The country is exploring **massive sulfide deposits and manganese crusts**, but faces challenges in balancing mining with **environmental protection**.
* 🇳🇴  Norway has passed a bill to explore part of its extended continental shelf for mining, with **environmental assessments and parliamentary approval required before extraction**.
* 🇺🇸  The US, with one of the largest continental shelves, is closely watching Norway's progress, as it lags in developing deep-sea mining plans due to **legislative hurdles**.
* 🌏  China and other countries are already vying for contracts in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, but legal barriers and environmental concerns complicate **deep-sea mining**.
* 💚  Deep-sea mining could provide **critical minerals for green technologies**, but remains controversial due to **potential environmental impacts**.
* 🤔  The long-term viability of deep-sea mining is uncertain, with questions around **profitability, environmental sustainability, and legislative frameworks**.
* 🌊  Despite the potential for **billions in mineral wealth**, the future of deep-sea mining in Norway and beyond remains **uncertain**.

- [Narrator] Deep inside this zone between Norway and Greenland, the seabed contains some of the most valuable minerals on the planet. From cobalt to rare earths, it holds the raw materials needed to drive multi-billion dollar industries such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other clean technologies. Currently, land-based supplies of these lucrative resources are dominated by China, giving sites like this massive geopolitical significance. But extracting such reserves from the deep sea is both a huge engineering challenge and highly controversial, with critics arguing that drilling here will cause irreparable damage to the largest ecosystem in the world. So here's how Norway is racing to tap into billions of dollars worth of rare minerals and why the US is intently watching developments. This remote operating vehicle, or ROV, is around 6,500 feet below the surface in an area of largely unexplored ocean. - This ROV is going down to the sea mountain

and drilling a core. - [Narrator] It's one tool being used to try and map out and analyze Norway's vast underwater reserves. - [Walter] So this is automatic and it can drill up to a hundred sites before it needs to go up to the surface again. - [Narrator] Loke Marine Minerals is one of several companies working with Norway to establish how it could mine here in the future. - The main challenge at the moment is that we do need more knowledge. We're gonna also include private companies in the work. So by opening, we're also inviting them in so that we can do this together - [Narrator] To better understand how it could mine its deep-sea resources, the country has opened up an area roughly the size of Nevada, close to the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard. Here, thousands of feet below the surface minerals are found in two forms, massive sulfide deposits created by magma

heating seawater below the seabed, which then rises up, depositing minerals on the ocean floor. And in manganese crust, which is formed where metallic compounds dissolved in seawater adhere to the sides of sea mountains. Initial surveys of this area estimate there are 38 million tons of copper and 45 million tons of zinc contained within the sulfides. In addition to millions of tons of cobalt and hundreds of thousands of other materials in the manganese crust. One estimate puts the potential value of Norway's minerals at around $92 billion. But these precious resources sit right next to protected marine areas. Companies in Norway are developing technology they hope will balance the challenge of extracting these minerals with environmental risks. - We are looking at small robots that are scraping off the crust and vacuum cleaning all material that was scraping off. If you think about a robot cleaning a swimming pool on the sides, all the crust will be pumped up.

to a vessel at the sea level. - [Narrator] But critics fear smoke plumes made up of the modern debris disturbed by the process could damage fragile deep-sea ecosystems. - We've tried to make the environmental impact as low as possible, but you cannot extract anything from the earth without making an impact. - But despite these concerns, the UN allows any coastal state the rights to the resources on and under the seabed within its continental margin. This generally extends to around 200 nautical miles. Countries can apply to extend this territorial limit. In 2009, Norway gained an additional 90,000 square miles, and in 2024 passed a controversial bill seeking to explore part of it for deep-sea mining activities. - First of all, it's important to say that what the parliament has opened for now is to explore, map, and gather more knowledge. - [Narrator] Norway says environmental assessments

and parliamentary approval must be in place before mining begins. Closely monitoring the developments in Norway is the US, which has one of the largest continental shelves in the world. - And that's not just because of the American mainland. You've got places like Alaska, Hawaii, and a smaller island, places like Guam, and American Samoa, which really give the US a very large continental shelf and a lot of ocean waters that it can exploit. - [Narrator] But unlike Norway, US legislators have been slower to develop plans to extract deep sea minerals. While countries like China and private companies are vying for lucrative contracts to mine beyond their own continental shelf. Most of the attention has focused on the Clarion-Clipperton Zone or CCZ, positioned South of Hawaii. Unlike Norway's resources, the minerals in this area are found inside nodules, small rocks loosely scattered on the sea floor. It is believed there's more nickel, cobalt,

and manganese here than in all land deposits. But legislative hurdles stand in the way of actually mining them. First, permission from the ISA, a UN body, must be granted, and so far, it's not handed out any exploitation contracts, although it has granted some exploration permissions. - China has access to five exploration sites where the US doesn't have access to any. The US hasn't ratified the UN Law of the Sea. That means it's not party to the ISA, and that means it can't actually legally gain exploration or exploitation contracts for deep sea mining in international waters. At the moment, the main option for it is to open up its own continental shelf. - [Narrator] As the US scrambles to catch up on what many say is the ticket to a green future, all eyes remain focused on Norway's pioneering efforts. - I think it has also been important for us to talk honestly about it, to say that we see the need

for these minerals, but to also say that we don't know everything. But if we are ever gonna continue and be able to extract seabed minerals in a sustainable way, we have to start somewhere, we need more knowledge, and we need to invite private actors to play a part in it. - [Narrator] But legislative hurdles, environmental factors, and profitability all leave this nascent industry with huge question marks over its long-term viability. Until there are clearer answers, these zones cram with billions of dollars worth of critical minerals may be left untapped. - The irony is that it could help society become greener, but remains hugely controversial because of the harm it could do to the rest of the environment.

Inside the Race to Mine $92 Billion Worth of Deep Sea Minerals | WSJ

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Norway's Race to Tap into Valuable Deep-Sea Minerals

Norway's seabed, between Norway and Greenland, holds crucial minerals for clean technology industries, giving it significant geopolitical importance.

The country is using remote operating vehicles to map and analyze its underwater reserves, with plans to involve private companies in the mining efforts.

The area being targeted for exploration is roughly the size of Nevada, with minerals found in massive sulfide deposits created by magma.

Norway is exploring the extraction of valuable minerals from the seabed, including 38 million tons of copper and 45 million tons of zinc, with a potential value of $92 billion.

The country is developing technology, such as small robots, to minimize environmental impact while extracting these resources.

However, critics warn that the extraction process could harm fragile deep-sea ecosystems, and Norway's controversial bill for deep-sea mining activities has raised concerns.

The US and Deep Sea Mining: A Comparison with Norway

The US has a large continental shelf due to its various territories but has been slow to develop plans for deep sea mineral extraction.

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, south of Hawaii, is a key area for lucrative mineral deposits, but legislative hurdles and lack of access to the ISA have hindered US involvement.

As the US tries to catch up, Norway's pioneering efforts in deep sea mining remain in the spotlight.

The Challenges of Sustainable Seabed Mineral Extraction

The extraction of seabed minerals is crucial for sustainability, but the industry faces legislative, environmental, and profitability challenges.

There is a need for more knowledge and private sector involvement to move forward.

Despite the potential to help society become greener, the controversy surrounding its environmental impact leaves the industry's long-term viability uncertain.