Norway's Deep-Sea Mining Rush: Companies Eye Underwater Treasures
Companies are eager to investigate the Arctic seabed off Norway, where deep-sea mining might soon be permitted — a move that greatly disturbs environmental groups.
The sector has previously experienced an unsuccessful beginning.
The Norwegian Parliament has overwhelmingly approved deep-sea mining initiatives, according to experts who have determined that substantial reserves can be retrieved. Furthermore, new companies leveraging over five decades of expertise from offshore oil and gas industries are eager to commence their activities.
However, an unexpected twist followed.
In December, Norway’s administration reversed its decision regarding the issuance of the initial exploration licenses planned for 2025. This move was part of an agreement with a leftist party aimed at getting their budget approved by the parliament.
"Of course, it came as both a shock and frustration... that a minor group managed to seize control of the budget talks and successfully obstruct an initiative supported by Parliament," stated Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt, who serves as the managing director at the start-up Adepth.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store maintained that this was merely a postponement, not a shift in stance.
The initial licenses are set to be granted starting in 2026, specifically for areas in the Greenland Sea and the Norwegian Sea.
However, the shift in the timeline significantly impacted industry participants, typically consisting of smaller firms led by an entrepreneur alongside a few geologists or geophysicists.
Last week, Loke Marine Minerals, despite aspirations to become a global frontrunner, filed for bankruptcy. In contrast, its competitor, Green Minerals, was forced to reduce expenses by 80 percent.
"Now we are just as prepared as before to receive licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf. We aim to remain active for many years," asserted Oivind Dahl-Stamnes, CEO of Green Minerals.
Supporters view deep-sea mining as a means to acquire essential minerals and metals required for shifting towards renewable energy sources, thereby decreasing reliance on China, which significantly leads the global market.
"If we keep receiving minerals at the current rate, it’s evident that the so-called green transition won’t actually be environmentally friendly," asserted Mathisen Tvedt.
In Norway, the stance differs from much of Europe; for instance, countries including France, Germany, and Britain exhibit reluctance or outright opposition towards engaging in deep-sea mining activities.
It is estimated that Norway’s seafloor contains “substantial” reserves, which include approximately 38 million tons of copper and 45 million tons of zinc, along with considerable amounts of rare earth elements, based on an official assessment released in 2023.
Clearing the way
During a conference held in early April in the Norwegian city of Bergen, AFP spoke with industry experts who expressed hope for extracting their initial minerals as soon as the end of this decade or possibly by the early 2030s.
Their proposals have stirred significant concern among environmental groups, who fear potential harm to the local marine ecosystems. These ecosystems remain poorly understood.
In Bergen, attendees encountered Greenpeace pamphlets bearing the message "Don't gamble with the ocean!"
"Deep-sea mining is an environmentally damaging practice that will devastate crucial and largely unstudied ecological systems just to extract minerals we don’t actually require for the green transition," asserted Helene Bourges, who leads a global project at Greenpeace International.
Egil Tjaland, who serves as the secretary general of the Norwegian Forum for Marine Minerals, asserted that Norway is ideally situated to advance this industry.
He stated, 'It would be preferable to have a country such as Norway, which boasts strong environmental credentials, initiate this effort and ideally establish a benchmark that other nations could adopt.'
I believe this will eventually occur globally… It’s simply a question of when.
Environmental advocates suffered an initial defeat in the legal arena.
In February, an Oslo court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the environmental organization WWF. The group had alleged that the Norwegian government was allowing deep-sea mining activities off the country’s coast without performing adequate impact assessments.
The WWF has objected to the decision.
Dahl-Stamnes from Green Minerals contended, "Every industrial process leaves a mark. With regards to minerals, we should ask ourselves, 'Where does this impact leave the lightest footprint?'"
He asked sarcastically whether it was smallest at depths between 1,000 and 2,000 meters (3,300 to 6,600 feet) beneath the ocean floor, or within conventional land-based mining operations.