IGO suspends annual dividends from Tianqi JV amid market downturn
The JV experienced a build in lithium hydroxide inventory at Kwinana over recent months.
Sea-floor deposits of cobalt, nickel and lithium and other minerals could soon become commercially available. New resource exploitation industries need new frameworks for governance and these frameworks are taking shape for deep-sea minerals, according to a new paper published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Deep-Sea Minerals: What Manufacturers and Markets Need to Know, asserts that mineral sourcing manufacturers and metal markets need to engage in the deep-sea mineral discussion.
A new way to meet the growing demand for minerals critical to electric vehicle, electronics and battery manufacturers could become commercially available within this decade, the paper predicts.
To create the space for industry to come together, discuss and engage on this complex issue, the World Economic Forum also launched the Deep-Sea Minerals Dialogue.
“Deep-sea mining is a cross-cutting topic that could affect both progress on climate action as well as the preservation of biodiversity and is connected with the transition to a circular economy”
Dominic Waughray, Managing Director, World Economic Forum
Significant public and private investment have gone into how to extract cobalt, nickel, lithium and other minerals from the deep seabed; however, more than 80 non-governmental organizations have voiced concerns about the dangers of commercial extraction.
Environmentalists have called for a ban on deep-seabed mining that would extract resources including copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lithium, and rare earth elements from nodules on the ocean floor.
While venues exist for countries, scientists, seabed mining industry and environmental organizations to discuss deep-sea mining, companies that use these kinds of minerals – the product manufactures and metal markets – previously did not have a place to learn about and discuss this topic, WEF reports.
The new platform will leverage experts with different points of views and analyse decision-making systems and learnings from existing industries.
“Deep-sea mining is a cross-cutting topic that could affect both progress on climate action as well as the preservation of biodiversity and is connected with the transition to a circular economy,” Dominic Waughray, Managing Director, World Economic Forum said in a media statement.
The next years are critical as regulatory, technology and investment decisions are being made. These decisions could determine the environmental and social impact of deep-sea minerals, WEF says.
Although the minerals may not enter supply chain for a few years, examples involving cobalt mining from the Democratic Republic of Congo and palm oil supply from Indonesia, show that failing to act early, can result in costly efforts to clean up the supply chain and reputational impact afterwards.
The paper underscores a trend of manufacturers and metal markets increasing their attention to the environmental and social conditions of the minerals they source. It is the first in a series of three about the potential extraction of deep-sea minerals, written for manufacturers and market exchanges.
“Decisions being taken now on the development of deep-sea minerals have implications for ocean conservation, responsible sourcing, sustainable production and even for our fight against accelerating climate change,” says Assheton Stewart Carter, CEO of TDI Sustainability.
We have learned from other industries – such as oil sands development, hydro-electric dams, nuclear power generation – that’s when decisions to proceed with megaprojects fail to be inclusive and informed by science, it can lead to delays, irreversible social and ecological damage, or abandoned assets.”
2 Comments
Vivian Rocher
Would like to know more about the dep sea minerals platform created by WEF.
Concerned Geologist
This is absolute madness, and a symptom of the disease of relentless corporate greed and demand for unlimited shareholder growth. We’ve already corrupted the planet quite severely with our desire for infinite growth, and wilderness areas rapidly shrinking. Our growth as a species is now endangering our very own survival.
To suggest that these delicate seafloor habitats, which have evolved in a slow, painstaking manner, could be mined “sustainably” or “responsibly” is simply delusional at best, and outright deception at worst. There would be no oversight or transparency for such a mining operation in the CCZ, which is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and at depths that only a well-funded organization with access to an ROV or submersible could reach. No one would be able to watch the mining activities, to ensure these companies weren’t just wholesale slaughtering an irreplaceable ecosystem.
Any they would be doing just that! Destroying something that we can never have back once they plow it up. Furthermore, any such monetary gains from these resources would be insignificant to the damage the sediments would do as they spread throughout the water column. They would decimate fish and krill populations and blanket the other seafloor organisms with a blanket of sediments that would choke their lives away. It could very will be the first domino that falls in the triggering of an ecosystem collapse.
Any corporation involved in this should be dissolved. Any shareholders or investors seeking profits from this should be publicly shamed. Any politicians greenlighting this should be removed from office. This is one of the worst ideas ever and should be buried in the deepest hole possible.