What are seabed minerals?
These are minerals found on the ocean seabed. The three major deep sea mineral deposits that have generated commercial interests include Seafloor Massive Sulphides (SMS), Polymetallic Nodules/Manganese Nodules and Cobalt-rich Crusts (CRC). In the Cook Islands the minerals found within its national jurisdiction are polymetallic or manganese nodules. They are spherical to potato-shaped rocks, and are generally found on the surface partially buried in the sediments and cover vast plains in areas of the deep seabed at depths of 3,000-6,000 meters. The Cook Islands nodules contain a number of elements, including the target metal cobalt (an important component in rechargeable batteries and other industrial, high-tech, medical and military applications), as well as by-product metals also sought by extractive industries such as: nickel, copper, manganese, niobium, zirconium and rare earth elements.
How much of these resources are at the bottom of the sea?
Estimate for nodules within the Cook Islands' EEZ is that there are ~12 billion wet tonnes (Cronan, 2013). This is generally considered the second largest deposit of metal-rich nodules. The area of the seabed where the greatest concentrations of metal-rich nodules are found in international waters (not belonging to any one country), to the West of Hawaii and the East of Mexico. This area of seabed is called the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) and has an estimated resource of 27 billion tonnes of nodules. These nodules are different in composition to the Cook Islands nodules – with lower cobalt but higher nickel and copper content.
What is the seabed of the Cook Islands?
The seabed of the Cook Islands means the seabed, ocean floor and subsoil of the internal waters, territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the continental shelf of the Cook Islands. These areas fall within the Cook Islands’ national jurisdiction as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and gives the Cook Islands the right to explore and exploit such seabed resources. UNCLOS outlines the areas of national jurisdiction as a twelve-nautical-mile territorial sea; an exclusive economic zone of up to 200 nautical miles (which for the Cook Islands means a total ~ 2, 000, 000 square km marine area) and a continental shelf which starts at 200 nautical miles and may extend beyond that depending on the outer limit of the continental shelf.
In addition the Cook Islands have a claim before the Commission on the Limits of the Contented Shelf concerning the outer limit of the extended continental shelf in the region of the Manihiki Plateau in accordance with Article 786 of the Convention for an area approximately 413,000 km beyond the 200 M from the Cook Islands’ territorial sea baseline
Why are we interested in seabed minerals?
The world’s demand for minerals continues to increase and the terrestrial resources are being stretched in terms of decreasing grade. The social and environmental impacts of on-land mining are increasingly controversial, increasing interest in offshore projects, where homes and communities will not be disrupted. There are also economic drivers: deep seabed resources are believed to contain a higher concentration, and a higher number of different types, of minerals in one deposit than their terrestrial alternatives.
What are seabed minerals used for?
Many of the metals contained in seabed deposits are considered ‘technology metals’ and are increasingly required by high technology industries including electronics and clean technologies, such as hybrid cars and wind turbines. As opposed to the generally well-studied deposits on the land, many of the resources at the bottom of the sea are yet to be discovered. Of the main metals.
- Cobalt is used for making super alloys – jet engines, alloys for prosthetics, batteries, catalysts, pigments and colouring, radioscopies*
- Copper is used in are in electrical wires (60%), roofing and plumbing (20%) and industrial machinery (15%). Copper is mostly used as a pure metal, but when a higher hardness is required it is combined with other elements to make an alloy (5% of total use) such as brass and bronze.[17] A small part of copper supply is used in production of compounds for nutritional supplements and fungicides in agriculture. Machining of copper is possible, although it is usually necessary to use an alloy for intricate parts to get good machinability characteristics.
- Nickel is used in 46% for making nickel steels (stainless steel; 34% in nonferrous alloys and super alloys; 14% electroplating, and 6% into other uses such as magnets and various uses alloyed with other metals
- Manganese is essential to iron and steel production, - high tensile steel, aluminium alloys, unleaded gasoline, dry cell batteries
- Titanium used for making stainless steel, pigments, additives, coatings, aerospace and marine metals resistant to corrosion industrial, jewellery, architectural , medical, nuclear waste storage
- Rare earth elements – a range of high technology uses such as TV screens, mobile phones, super conductors, magnets, lasers, nuclear batteries and a host of new evolving technologies
What rights do the Cook Islands have in developing its seabed resources?
The Cook Islands rights are derived from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and depend on the area concerned. Within the Territorial Sea, the Cook Islands exercise sovereignty over the use of its natural resources. Within the EEZ and Continental Shelf the Cook Islands has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting its natural resources. These rights are exclusive in that no other State may undertake exploration or exploitation within the areas identified without the express consent of the Cook Islands. (Can possibly elaborate on the difference between sovereignty and sovereign rights)
Who owns our minerals?
The Cook Islands Government owns all rights to the Seabed of the Cook Islands and its mineral resources are owned by the Crown to be managed on behalf of the people of the Cook Islands. The regulation and management of the minerals of the Seabed of the Cook Islands are governed by the provisions of the Seabed Minerals Act 2019
exploration phase
Has there been exploration in the Cook Islands before?
Since the 1960s a number of exploration expeditions have taken place in various regions of the Cook Islands EEZ. These expeditions revealed that the Cook Islands' waters contains large amounts of seabed minerals (SBM) known as polymetallic nodules.
However they did not gather enough information for us to understand the deep sea marine life or the commercial viability of harvesting nodules.
The three exploration licences issued in February 2022 are the first formal exploration rights granted for polymetallic nodules within Cook Islands waters. Other countries and international organisations have also issued exploration rights for seabed minerals as far back as 1994.
Why is seabed exploration important for the Cook Islands?
We are committed to sustainably and responsibly developing our SBM sector for the benefit of our Cook Islands people. In line with the precautionary approach, any future decision on whether or not we will allow harvesting to occur needs to be scientifically based.
To achieve this, we need more data and information about the nature of our mineral resource and the existing marine environment so that we can better understand and address the potential environmental impacts and likely commercial viability. This understanding can only be obtained through exploration research work, which is why the Exploration Phase is important.
The exploration programmes will teach us more about our Marae Moana and contribute to the global effort to better understand the world's deep sea marine environment and seabed.
What exploration activities will be taking place?
Each of the licence holders have five-year Exploration Work Plans which, similar to other exploration programmes around the world, include activities such as:
- Mapping the seafloor in more detail using sonar
- Sampling of the seabed to better understand the location of the mineral deposits and their quality
- Sampling of the animal life to understand better the ecology
- Measurements and samples of the ocean and seabed to better understand the chemical function of the environment
The licence holders will collect environmental baseline data, identify risk factors, and conduct environmental impact assessments for any future potential harvesting operations.
Engineering design studies and market studies will also be conducted to see whether the minerals can be extracted commercially.
Each licence holder’s Exploration Work Plans are available on the Authority's website, along with copies of their licences.
How do we know that the Exploration work will be carried out safely and properly?
During the licensing process the Authority and an independent panel of experts assessed the licence holders to make sure that they would have the technical capability and resources to carry out their intended exploratory activities properly and legally.
This involved assessing their Exploration Work Plans, Incident Response and Management Plans, Occupational Health and Safety Plans, and Environmental Management Programmes to ensure they were aligned with industry best practice.
The Cook Islands has laws, standards and licence conditions in place to ensure that licence holders only perform work that has been authorised.
The Authority actively monitors the activities of the licence holders, including through the placement of inspectors on-board exploration vessels, the use of vessel tracking systems, and strict reporting requirements. The Authority also has a wide range of enforcement powers if there is non-compliance with laws, standards or licence conditions.
What is the difference between exploration and minerals harvesting?
Exploration is similar to marine scientific research and will help us to assess whether the sustainable and responsible harvesting of minerals is possible. Some nodules will be collected during exploratory expeditions for later analysis, but only in small amounts.
Minerals harvesting entails collecting commercial quantities of nodules for processing and sale on global commodity markets. Companies granted a minerals harvesting licence must pay royalties and taxes to the Cook Islands.
To be clear, the Cook Islands Government is only allowing exploration at this stage.
Who carries out the exploration, and for how long?
Only companies with exploration licences are permitted to conduct exclusive exploration in the Cook Islands. The licences are valid for five years, although holders can apply for extensions of up to twenty years if they meet our legal requirements.
The Authority and licence holders do not yet know how long the Exploration Phase will take, but it will continue until Government has enough information to decide whether we will allow minerals harvesting to take place or not.
As licence holders carry out their exploration work and gather more information we will have a better understanding of how long the Exploration Phase will take.
Where can I find more information?
The Authority's website or Facebook page will provide you with the most up-to-date and official information available on the Cook Islands exploration programme, including media releases, factsheets, reports and videos. The Cook Islands public is also welcome to visit the Authority’s office and ask questions in person.
marae moana
What is Marae Maona?
Marae Moana is a multi-use marine park which extends over the entire Exclusive Economic Zone of the Cook Islands, an area of 1.9 million km2.
What is a ‘multi-use marine park'?
Marae Moana is a multi-use marine park. This means that different types of activities can occur in the Marae Moana. This includes recreational, conservation, cultural and commercial activities. There are also zones in the Mare Moana which determine what activities can and cannot take place. For example, in some zones commercial fishing and seabed mineral activities are not allowed.
Can SBM activities take place within Marae Moana?
Yes, seabed mineral activities can take place within Marae Moana as long as it is in line with the Marae Moana principles. In particular, the Authority must ensure that seabed minerals activities apply the principles of ecologically sustainable use. Ecologically sustainable use means conserving, using, enhancing, and developing the resources of the Marae Moana to enable people to provide for their social, economic, and cultural wellbeing, while—
- maintaining the potential of those resources to meet future generations needs
- avoiding, remedying, or mitigating any adverse effects of the use of those resources on the environment of the Marae Moana
What is ecologically sustainable use?
This means conserving, using, enhancing, and developing the resources of the Marae Moana to enable people to provide for their social, economic, and cultural wellbeing, while—
- maintaining the potential of those resources to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations; and
- avoiding, remedying, or mitigating any adverse effects of the use of those resources on the environment of the marae moana
What are the principles of ecologically sustainable use?
- Protection, conservation, and restoration
- Sustainable use to maximise benefits
- Precautionary principle
- Community participation
- Transparency and accountability
- Integrated management
- Investigation and research
- Ecosystem-based management
- Sustainable financing
More info can be found in Section 5 of the Marae Moana Act 2017.
What are the Marae Moana zones?
Under Marae Moana there are various zones in which different types of activities can occur. For example, seabed mineral activities will only be allowed in the general use zone.
- General use zone – commercial fishing and seabed mineral activities allowed in this zone
- Restricted commercial fishing zone – no commercial fishing allowed in this zone
- Seabed minerals activity buffer zone – no seabed minerals activities allowed in this zone
- Island protection zone – no commercial fishing or seabed minerals activities allowed in this zone
- Ocean habitat preservation zone – to protect sensitive and ecologically valuable habitats
- National marine park zone – strict preservation of specific coral reef, coastal, and lagoon habitats.
There is also a 50 nautical mile marine protected area around all 15 of the Cook Islands, established under Marae Moana. This means that commercial fishing and seabed mineral activities are not allowed in this area.
What is the Marae Moana Marine spatial plan?
A marine spatial plan will be developed which establishes the zones in the Marae Moana. The TAG will assist in the development of the marine spatial planning procedures to help with the development of the National Marae Moana Spatial Plan – a marine spatial plan that covers the entire Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone.
Last updated: September 06 2022