The last great redivision of the world. That’s how marine
geologists are describing the stampede to mine the world’s sea beds for gold,
silver, copper and cobalt, lead and zinc with unknown and unpredictable
consequences.
It’s another environmental disaster in the making as
countries and corporations alike join a modern gold rush, using new methods to
exploit precious metals contained in rocky ore deposits called seafloor massive
sulphides (SMS).
Located 1-2km under water, SMS deposits appear like giant
rock formations about 200m long and wide, and tens of metres thick. The
deposits contain high concentrations of the copper and gold, as well as zinc,
lead, silver and sulphur.
Deposits are found in underwater volcanic areas around the
world and are created by hydrothermal plumes known as “black smokers”. Purities
of 10% and higher have been discovered, turning the obscure deposits into
potential rich pickings.
Last year, the Canadian-headquartered company Nautilus, won a 20-year lease to mine a rich deposit
in the Bismarck Sea , in the south-western
Pacific. The mounds are a mile down. The company says the site holds about 10
tons of gold and 125,000 tons of copper.
Signed by the government of Papua New Guinea , the licence is a
desperate move to earn some revenue. A recent report “Out of our Depth”,
produced by MiningWatch Canada ,
poured scorn on the claims that mining would do no damage. Drawn up with the
support of the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights in PNG, the
report says that the licence was granted on a “superficial understanding of
social and economic impacts”.
The PNG’s environmental approvals process, it added, “has
failed to protect the health
of the marine environment, the livelihoods and well-being of
coastal communities, and fisheries of national and regional economic
importance.”
Seabed mining will also produce massive mine dumps or
slimes. When exposed to aerobic surface conditions, mineral breakdown releases
elements from their mineralogical bindings which may not be easily absorbed by
unaccustomed ecosystems.
But what the hell: there’s gold in them thar sea beds and the
shareholders don’t care.
So there are no impact studies on the potential poisoning of
human and marine communities by the metals released into ocean. So what?
Precious metals are in short supply on land because the
corporations have mined just about what there is. So the sea beds are the next
big thing, using technologies developed by that other ruthless industry in the
shape of the oil corporations.
Government-supported groups in China ,
Japan and South Korea are hunting for sulphides in the
Atlantic, Indian and Pacific
Oceans Russia
joined the high-seas rush in 2011, and France
and South Korea
in May.
As environmentalists have pointed out, unlike conventional
mines or fracking, deep-undersea drilling and mining is near impossible for
independent sources to look into. Journalists, documentary makers or even
regulatory agencies will not be able to monitor what is going on. The companies
and governments involved will not be a rush to give us the whole picture,
that’s for sure.
Georgy Cherkashov, a Russian marine geologist and president
of the International Marine Minerals Society, said of the new minerals hunt: “It’s
first come, first get”. The manoeuvring for the most promising sites, he added,
represents “the last redivision of the world.” Great.
The depletion of natural resources that is driving the
reckless exploration of sea beds is the reflection of an unsustainable,
profit-driven production and consumption system. Not only has this led to a
catastrophic economic disaster in the shape of a global capitalist recession,
but has also weakened the ecosystem, leading to climate change.
The world needs to be redivided alright – removing the power
and control of the 1% in favour of the majority as the first steps towards a
sustainable production system driven by need that regard itself as part of
nature and not its enemy.
Paul Feldman
Communications editor
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