DEEP SEA MINERALS - Vol 1 - Sea-Floor Massive Sulphides

Participating Paci c Island States

Marshall Islands

Federated States of Micronesia

Palau

Kiribati (Line Iss.)

Kiribati

Nauru

(Gilbert Iss.)

Kiribati

Papua New Guinea

(Phoenix Iss.)

Tuvalu

Solomon Islands

Cook Islands

Timor Leste

Samoa

Fiji

Vanuatu

Tonga Niue

Exclusive economic zone

Figure 1. The Pacific ACP States (i.e. Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Group of States) participating in the European Union funded SPC Deep Sea Minerals Project.

The existence of known high-grade SMS deposits in the Pacific, and the progress towards ex- traction of metals from the Manus Basin site (Papua New Guinea), has increased interest around the region in the commercial development of SMS. To support Pacific Islands in governing and developing these natural resources, SOPAC Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is providing a range of information products, technical and policy support, and capacity building activities through the Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific Islands Region: a Legal and Fiscal Framework for Sustainable Resource Management Project (Figure 1). This publication, created as part of that project, brings together expert knowledge on the geology and biology of SMS depos- its and information about best-practices related to environmental management and technical aspects of mineral exploration and extraction.

THE GEOLOGY OF SEA-FLOOR MASSIVE SULPHIDES 6