Workshop for the Establishment of Environmental Baselines at Deep Seafloor Cobalt-Rich Crusts and Deep Seabed Polymetallic Sulphide Mine Sites in the Area For the Purpose of Evaluating the Likely Effects of Exploration and Exploitation on the Marine Environment
6-10 September 2004
Kingston, Jamaica
Agenda | Participants Listing | Workshop Summary | Proceedings
The International Seabed Authority will convene a workshop to determine the likely effects of exploration and mining of seafloor cobalt-rich crusts and polymetallic sulphides deposits on the marine environment. This workshop is to assist the Legal and Technical Commission, which recently submitted a draft exploration code for these resources to the Council, to issue guidelines for use by potential contractors in the establishment of environmental baselines for the purpose of evaluating the likely effects of exploration and subsequent mining activities of these mineral resources on the marine environment. The workshop is scheduled for 6 to 10 September 2004, at the Authority’s headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica.
At the tenth session of the Authority, the Legal and Technical Commission submitted “Draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the Area” to the Council for its consideration at the eleventh session. Document ISBA/10/C/WP1 comprises 43 regulations and four annexes. Annex 1 is on “Notification of intention to engage in prospecting”, Annex 2 is on “Application for approval of a plan of work for exploration to obtain a contract”, Annex 3 “Contract for exploration”, and Annex 4 contains standard clauses for exploration contracts. Of the 43 regulations, nine are concerned with the protection and preservation of the marine environment from activities in the Area. These regulations are regulation 5 in Part II (Prospecting), regulations 20 and 22 in Part III (Applications for approval of plans of work for exploration in the form of contracts), regulations 33, 34, 35, 36 and 38 in Part V (Protection and preservation of the marine environment), and regulation 41 in Part VI (Confidentiality). Of these, regulation 33 (Protection and preservation of the marine environment), regulation 34 (Environmental baselines and monitoring) and regulation 41 (Recommendations for the guidance of contractors) are most pertinent to the workshops objectives.
To monitor any impacts which might occur as a result of exploration and mining for polymetallic sulphides and cobalt crusts it is essential that the technology to be used in exploration and subsequent exploitation operations is known. It is equally important that the initial environmental conditions are known and that they can be compared to the environment once commercial activity has commenced. To ensure various studies are comparable, the programme for establishing baseline data must be well designed and implemented. To carry this out, processes for collecting data must be established prior to any project commencing so that the data are robust. This workshop would allow scientists to meet and compare ideas to determine what is currently known about the relevant environments, what needs to be measured to monitor any impact as a consequence of exploration and mining activity, and how to measure any potential impact and gaps in the international community’s knowledge base that could benefit from collaborative work. In accordance with article 165 of the Convention, the results of the workshop will be transmitted to the Legal and Technical Commission for recommendations that it might make to the Council in this regard.
The purposes of the workshop are: to increase understanding of the potential impact of exploring for and mining these resources; to determine what is required for baseline studies; to ascertain the relevance of current or past research programmes; to design a monitoring programme to be carried out during exploration and mining of these resources; to determine any potential collaboration to reduce costs for potential contractors, and to propose guidelines to be submitted to LTC for establishing environmental baselines and for subsequent environmental monitoring.
