IGO to record impairment against nickel assets in strategy shift
IGO has been undertaking a strategic review in an attempt to revaluate its resources.
The UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) has opened up massive new regions of the ocean floor for mining companies to search for and dig up valuable minerals including copper, gold and manganese by issuing seven new exploration licences.
State-owned and private companies from the UK, Germany, India, Brazil, Singapore and Russia are among those to benefit from the seabed regulator’s latest decision.
Seabed Resources, an English subsidiary of the US defence giant Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), has secured exploration rights to an area larger than the entire UK.
Since 2001 ISA has issued 30 exploration permits for the Pacific, Mid-Atlantic and Indian Oceans. But the body says there has been a rush as of late, with numerous private firms applying not only for mineral, but also for oil and gas extraction permits.
The total area of seabed open for mining has reached 1.2 million square kilometres divided up among 26 different permits for minerals prospecting.
Canada’s Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS) is currently leading the race to open the first seabed mine. In a deal arranged outside the ISA system, the company overcame several difficulties until it reached an agreement with the Papua New Guinea government to move forward with its Solwara 1 gold, copper and silver underwater project, located in the Bismarck Sea.
New Zealand’s Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) was not as lucky as Nautilus. The country’s authorities rejected last month its $70 million ocean floor iron mine project, which could have become the country’s first operation of its kind.
3 Comments
Ivan Fed
This is really wonderful, history will repeat again. The Japs with their nuclear waste water entering the Pacific Ocean and contamination will continue.They will not clean up the mess because its to expensive. The UN is nuts in that there will be no people to watch the Mining Companies when they will pollute or accidents will happen.I know that BP is ready to help. There is a lot of monies involved and the palms will be greased;wonder if Al Gore gets more than his share. The fox is watching the hen house.
ET1
You are naive if you think the UN are not in it for the money. Generally, us humans will mine all the resources this planet has to offer until there is no more. The tragedy is there is really nothing anyone can do about it.
litera
ET1 – you can write a letter to your MP. You can vote for the Green Party in your country, you can pray and meditate and then…you can sleep peacefully?