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GHOSTS FROM THE DEEP

By Aisha Azeemah potential damage to the undersea ecosystem to those rooted
in culture and sentiment, Solwara 1 was a go.
There has been interest in deep-sea mining in the Pacific In the end, it was not environmental nor cultural concerns
since as early as the 1970s, but it was not until 2016 that the that brought the project to a standstill, but rather the
first drill dropped beneath the waves with the intent to begin withdrawal of a key corporate investor, bringing Nautilus
full mining operations. Minerals to the brink of bankruptcy and forcing them to
Canadian mining company, Nautilus Minerals, was set to be abandon their plans to begin extraction in 2019.
the world’s first deep-sea mining firm, having explored Papua While Solwara 1 made it close to beginning full mining
New Guinea waters since the late 1990s. In 2008, Nautilus and extraction operations, no company in the world has yet
Minerals provided the country with its Environmental Impact claimed the title of being the first to do so.
Assessment. While dozens of exploratory projects have been approved
The company’s first major project in the Bismarck Sea was over the past few decades, no company has yet been given
named Solwara 1, and had plans to extract copper, gold, the approval to begin commercial deep-sea mining operations
silver, and zinc, from an area 30 kilometers off the coast at a anywhere in the world.
depth of 1600 meters. But Tonga and Kiribati are watching events unfold in Nauru,
But the project never reached the stage of extraction. which is inching closer towards sending drill units to the ocean
Despite strong opposition from NGOs, civil groups, and local floor.
residents regarding concerns ranging from those rooted in the

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