Should Africa mine its deep seabed?

Should Africa mine its seabed?

President Donald Trump’s executive order on deep-sea mining opened a can of worms.

By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.

Trump’s order seeks to expedite the exploitation of the deep seabed, both in the US and international waters.

Deepsea mining is extremely controversial and the long-term environmental impacts largely unknown. I covered the story when Canadian deep-sea miner Nautilus Minerals applied for exploration licenses at their Solwara 1 project in the Bismarck Sea off the coast of Papua New Guinea about 12 years ago. Nautilus wanted to mine Seafloor Massive Sulphides (SMS) but the project never got off the ground.

Reading about Trump’s order made me wonder what exactly lies beneath the deep seabed around the African continent and what sort of exploration has been done in African waters.

Africa no stranger to deep-sea mining

Africa, of course, is no stranger to deep-sea mining with De Beers and other small-scale miners operating their diamond harvesting boats on the West Coast of South Africa and Namibia for decades.

I also remember writing about the Sandpiper Phosphate Project developed by Namibian Marine Phosphate who got issued a licence to extract phosphate from the seabed in Namibia at depths of 180 to 300m in round about 2011. The project got thwarted by opposition from the fishing industry and environmental groups.

Nigeria exploring its coastal waters

According to a colleague Nigeria is another African country exploring the potential of deep-sea mining in its coastal waters. Two years ago, the Nigerian government engaged with the Commonwealth Secretariat to develop a strategy for deep-sea mining. The focus would be on extracting minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, gold, and rare earth elements.

Is deep-sea mining viable?

Whether deep-sea mining is a sound business model remains to be seen. The costs of developing underground equipment and mining and transporting such minerals in bulk are massive, not to mention the backlash by fishing communities and environmental groups.

Nevertheless, word is that other African countries are looking at exploring their waters.

While deep-sea mining presents opportunities for economic development it also poses environmental and governance challenges. African countries need to balance potential economic benefits with the imperative to protect and conserve marine ecosystems and traditional fishing grounds.

If there are any experts in my network that are focussed on deep-sea geology, environmental management and deep-sea mining of the African coast, please contact WhyAfrica.

Should Africa mine its deep seabed?