Deep-sea Mining: Running out of time?

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As set out in our previous alert Pivotal Year for Deep-Sea Mining, the deep seabed is rich in mineral concretions containing cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese called polymetallic nodules. A vast number of these nodules are located in the seabed beyond national jurisdiction (the “Area”) an area addressed in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) framework. The International Seabed Authority (“ISA”) is responsible for protecting the marine environment and regulating activities in the international seabed Area. The ISA has been working on developing a regulatory framework for exploitation activities of the deep seabed since 2011. The first part of the ISA’s governing council’s (the “Council”) 28^th session closed on 31 March 2023. The two weeks of negotiations concluded without approving rules and regulations on the exploitation of the deep seabed.