Marine Atlas: Maximizing Benefits for Solomon Islands

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UNDER WATER WILD WEST: DEEP SEA MINING AND UNDER WATER CABLING Solomon Islands’ sea and coasts are rich with deep-sea minerals, petroleum, sand and gravel. These all need to be sustainably managed and a balance found between their overlapping uses. 300 Years—Technological Development and Metal Consumption But there is no geological shortage of metals—there are actually more than enough in the ground. So why is the interest in deep-sea mining so great? Because it is be- coming more expensive and more difficult to meet our needs using the means available on land. Mining yields resources at the cost of substantial environmental dam- age—and fewer and fewer societies are prepared to pay the price. For instance, rare earth metals are not rare at all, all things considered. They are o ly “rare” because mining them is too expensive due to high labor costs and envi- ronmental considerations. That is the only reason that 97 Here’s what we do know: the deep sea is a habitat in which everything—everything—happens very, very slowly. The tracks made by equipment from the first ex- peditions to the sea floor in the 1980s are still visible even now, as though they were just made yesterday. It takes a million y ars f r manganese nodules, the valuable metal nuggets on the ocean floor, to grow just 5–20 millimeters. Ecologists warn that anything that is destroyed there will ronmental considerations. That is the only reason that 97 about 10 percent has been surveyed topographically and less than one percent has actually been researched and explored.

Re spots (see also chapter “Smoke underwater, fire in the sea”). Deep-sea mining has the po- tential to impact these important ecosystems. However, because deep-sea mining is a rel- atively new field, the complete consequenc- es of full-scale mining operations on this ecosystem are unknown. Direct risks include disturbances to the benthic layer, increased toxicity of the water column and sediment plumes from tailings with unknown long- term effects, while indirect risks are leakage, spills and corrosion. As mining involves the extraction of a non-renewable resource, it should be managed using the precautionary approach and, technically, cannot be consid- ered sustainable. Given the limited scientific knowledge and high demand for technology in exploring and mining deep-sea areas, marine-based mineral extraction should be treated with caution. Equally, sand and gravel mining, as well as petroleum exploitation, comes with risks that need to be managed. Finally, cable routes have to avoid hazardous conditions and sensitive marine areas, such as deep-sea vents and seamounts. In short, mining, cabling and their potential risks are a good example of the need to spatially plan overlapping uses well in order to maximize benefits for Solomon Islands. W Co Cr Cu Ge Fe Mn Mg Li C Si

Gold rush

300 Years – Technological Development and Metal Consumption 300 Years—Technological Development and Metal Consumption

Metal Reserves Land/Sea in Million of Metric Tons Metal Reserves Land/Sea in Millions of Metric Tons

Is Solomon Islands about to experience a gold rush, like California did in the 1850s, when over 300,000 people rushed to the Wild West with dollars signs in their eyes? While Solomon Islands’ land may be rich in many ways, gold is much scarcer. Instead, Solomon Islands’ gold rush could take place underwater to satisfy the world’s hunger for miner- als, given that many metal reserves are found in the sea (see graphic).

Cobalt (Co)

Manganese (Mn)

20.5

230

306

5,830

Al Ag

Cd Ce Ca

Nickel (Ni)

7,076

Ce Ca C

In K

Nb Ni

5.4 0.0011

260

SEE Rh Ru

Thallium (Tl)

Rare earth oxides

Ca C

Th Tl

Te Th Tl

RESERVES (in millions of metric tons)

1700

1800

1900

2000

CC-BY-SA PETRABOECKMANN.DE / OCEAN ATLAS 2017 | SOURCE: WOR

In the sea (sum of estimated metal reserves in the Prime Crust Zone [PCZ] and the Clarion-Clipperton Zone [CCZ])

On land

CC-BY-SA PETRABOECKMANN.DE / OCEAN ATLAS 2017 | SOURCE: ACHZET

* The rare earth elements include the elements scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, and the 14 other lanthanides.

Al Ag

Cd Ce Ca

Ni necting Australia and Hawaii. Despite both these cables transiting the Solomon Islands, neither service Solomon Islands. Plans for a cable between Australia and Solomon Islands have been drawn up and a contract for the work has been signed with a Chinese company. However, the work has not yet been completed due to various delays. In shallow waters, the fibre-optic cables are generally thicker and laid beneath the sea floor for protection. At the shoreward end of the cables, where they cross the intertidal zone, the cables are protected by piping and are bolted to the substrate. In deeper water, the thinner cables are laid on the sea floor. These different and overlapping uses clearly need to be well planned and managed. For example, as the map shows, sea-floor mas- sive sulfides are found on or close to hydro- thermal vents, which are biodiversity hot- Pt V Cu Fe Pb Mg Ce Ca C W Si 1900 OCEAN ATL AS 2017

are therefore still undertaking exploration activities and collecting samples to estimate the extent of seabed mineral deposits. Ex- traction costs for deep-sea mineral resourc- es are still unknown. At present, there are 264 mining tenements in Solomon Islands: 146 onshore and 118 offshore. Several different companies operate the offshore tenements. In 2015, more than 20 compa- nies submitted 129 applications for explo- ration and mining licences to the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification (PNG Mine Watch, 2015). One company, Bluewa- ter Minerals (SI) Ltd, has submitted applica- tions for 81 of the offshore tenements. Most offshore tenements are in Western Province, east of Makira-Ulawa Province and around the Temotu Province. Of the three types of marine minerals, Solomon Islands is known to contain sea-floor massive sulfides, which are associated with hydrothermal vents (see Fe C Ca C 1700

also chapter “Smoke underwater, fire in the sea”) (World Bank, 2017).

There are three main types of deep seabed mineral deposits: sea-floor massive sulfides, polymetallic manganese nodules and cobalt manganese crusts (rich in platinum and rare earth elements) found throughout the Pacific Ocean basin, including in the maritime juris- dictions of many Pacific Islands countries. Due to limited opportunities for economic growth in these countries, there is considera- ble interest from the leaders of these nations to develop this as a potential new industry to boost their economic development. However, there are still significant gaps in knowledge of deep-sea mineral mining, par- ticularly in terms of resource potential, technol- ogy, economic viability, and social, cultural and environmental impacts (World Bank, 2017).

In K

There are no exploited sources of natural gas or oil in Solomon Islands, meaning the country currently depends on imports of petroleum products. Due to this reliance of imported energy, Solomon Islands, like many Pacific Island countries, is considering alternative energy sources, including renew- able energy. In addition to resource exploration, Solomon Islands’ sea floor has been used to build communications structure, with several submarine cables laid across it. The Austral- ia-Japan Cable passes between Makira and Temotu Provinces and has cable stations in Australia, Guam and Japan. The Telstra Endeavour cable passes through the east- ern part of Solomon Islands’ waters, con- Pb W Co Cu Co Mn Mn Mo Sn

BOE_Meeresatlas_Innenteil_EN_11.indd 34

09.08.17 21:50

Nb Ni

V 20.5 U Mo Sn Ta

SEE Rh Ru

Th Tl

Te Th Tl

1800

2000

As yet, Solomon Islands has not experi- enced a gold rush, and mining companies

Hydrothermal vent deposits.

USES 94 49

CC-BY-SA PETRABOECKMANN.DE / OCEAN ATLAS 2017 | SOURCE: ACHZET

MAXIMIZING BENEFITS FOR SOLOMON ISLANDS

* The rare earth elements include the elements scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, and the 14 other lanthanides.

URCE: ACHZET

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