Seabed mining is an emerging industrial activity (Economist [1]). It is at the margin of commercial exploitation (World Bank [2]). In qualifying terms, seabed mining entails operating remotely controlled technology in a sensitive environment that is difficult to monitor and inaccessible. To establish sound technical, operational and regulatory specifications for seabed mining, best practices for operating a terrestrial mining site may offer guidance such as ‘a practice that is not acceptable for a terrestrial mining site is neither acceptable for a marine mining site’.
To imagine a lively scenario, one may consider an open-pit mine in the high Arctic, for example at the Wrangle Island, as follows: – to operate at the surface in harsh environment that is difficult to monitor; – to operate a remote place that temporarily gets inaccessible; – to use new technology with high capability of autonomous operations; – to undertake human intervention only through remote control; and – to apply a recently developed regulatory framework. I wonder, whether under such circumstances mining the Wrangel Island would happen, at all. Consequently, what about mining at the seabed [3]?
[1] Economist 2018, Race to the Bottom; [2] World Bank 2016, Precautionary Management of Deep Sea Mining Potential in Pacific Island Countries; [3] Martin Bohle 2018, Responsible mining at the Wrangel Island and the Seabed
Full text: https://ukkoelhob.blogspot.be/2018/04/wrangel-island-no-seabed-yes.html
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