As international experts gathered at the world’s largest gathering of ocean mineral stakeholders in Rarotonga this week, some Cook Islanders joined hands in protest against the proposed deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules containing valuable minerals in the Cook Islands seabed.

At the National Auditorium, about 250 experts from around the world including scientists gathered for the 52^nd Underwater Minerals Conference held from Monday to Thursday. They met to discuss marine mineral deposits, their biology, and related regulations, technology and policy.

On Wednesday, concerned Cook Islands residents turned up for a preplanned rally against potential deep sea mining at the Avarua Harbour.

The rally organised by the Cook Islands environmental conservation organisation, Ocean Ancestors, a collective of individuals, NGOs and businesses, declared “Protect Our Ocean, #Think Deeply” on a 75-square metre sign that floated in the harbour, surrounded by supporters who took to the water in Vaka Marumaru Atua, kayaks and other vessels.

They are calling for a moratorium on deep-sea activities.

On Friday, Opposition Member of Parliament Teariki Heather, the leader of the Cook Islands United Party, organised the second rally against deep sea mining at the Black Rock.

“Protect our ocean” was the message prominently displayed on a gigantic banner at the scene, attracting many locals and tourists.

Louisa Castledine, a member of Ocean Ancestors who participated in the rallies, described them as emotional.

“I am a proud Cook Islands girl, grew up in Manihiki who has blood ties throughout the Cook Islands. I am proud to stand here as someone who is of the next generation and is an ordinary girl who is clear on what it is that I love about our home and that is our ocean,” Castledine told those who gathered at Friday’s rally.

“Our ocean is one of those components that make up who we are as people. It is vast in our culture and it contributes to who we are as people.

“It was emotional on Wednesday to be on the water, as someone who grew up on the ocean, we are well connected to the ocean and as ocean people, it was incredible o be out on the water, to be on the waves and to feel the mana of our moana.”

Jackie Tuara, founder of Te Manava Ora o te Ivi Maori, who was one of the key people behind Wednesday’s rally.

Jackie Tuara, founder of Korero O Te Orau and Te Manava Ora o te Ivi Maori, who was one of the key people behind Wednesday’s rally. 24092016

Tuara told the demonstrators that they must remind themselves of their origins, who they are and their deep connection to the land.

“We are not the owners of creation, rather we are the stewards of the ocean summoned by God to work it and take care of it,” says Tuara.

“Our users of the earth must be designed to conserve and renew it rather than to deplete or destroy it.

“Government and those who are for it may argue and those that are for deep-sea mining may argue that God put the resources in the ocean for our benefit.

“The argument is we need more time and wisdom to extract it safely or not. The other argument is who ultimately benefit from seabed-mining. Us or the companies that mine it? Is money more important or is the life in our ocean more important?”

On Wednesday, concerned Cook Islands residents turned up for a preplanned rally against potential deep sea mining at the Avarua Harbour. 24091824

Prime Minister Mark Brown, who is also the Minister responsible for Seabed Minerals, has been leading the charge in promoting the exploration of Cook Islands seabed minerals with a view to eventually mine these minerals if it can be proven that this can be done safely.

The seafloor, especially in parts of the Pacific Ocean, is covered by potato-shaped rocks polymetallic nodules that are filled with metals used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, according to Reuters.

Cook Islands reportedly boasts the world’s largest documented collection of mineral rich manganese nodules, estimated at a staggering 6.7 billion tonnes, found at a depth of 5000 metre and spread over some 750,000 square kilometres of the country’s continental shelf.

The country is currently in its third year of a five-year exploration phase to determine the feasibility of deep-sea mining for nodules rich in cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese.

As part of the exploration process, the three mining companies conducting the exploration must review the associated environmental risks and if they can prove that mining is viable, the government will award them a mining licence.

However, the Prime Minister confirms that the harvesting will only take place if the demand is there and research is done completely.

PM Brown says that international demand for minerals found in the nodules is growing and while research is believed to be progressing smoothly, harvesting still has a way to go.

“There are environmental issues that we need to address, there are regulatory issues that must be managed as well, but there’s also commercial interests,” he adds.

“So, if there is no demand for these metals, then obviously, nothing is going to happen. But from what we see globally, countries are shifting their energy away from fossil fuel. They want to shift towards renewable energy.”

Demonstrators gathered at the Black Rock on Friday to protest against deep sea mining. TALAIA MIKA/24092022

A 2024 report by the World Resources Institute in the UK on seabed mining states that proponents of deep-sea mining argue that it could help meet the world’s pressing need for critical minerals.

However, it will likely only continue to grow as countries scale their decarbonisation efforts.

“Estimates suggest that global demand for some such minerals could rise by as much as 400%-600% in the coming decades as the world increases its reliance on wind and solar power, electric vehicles, batteries and other zero-carbon technologies,” report reads.

“Several studies have concluded that there is no shortage of mineral resources on land, but the world still faces significant hurdles in locating viable resource and quickly scaling up mining and processing operations.”

Brown says with the growing demand for these critical metals, the Cook Island has a treasure sitting within its ocean.

He says they have the ability to conduct research in a way that it is held before any steps are taken towards harvesting or collecting these nodules.

However, Brown reiterates that they must have good sound evidence that it can be done in a way that ensures the protection of the ocean.

Earlier this week, he revealed that there is a possibility of extending the exploration time frame beyond five years, depending on the satisfaction derived from the data and findings of the three companies conducting the exploration of the country’s seabed.

“We want to be the country with the most knowledge and understanding of our deep ocean and that will lead us then to whether we make a decision on going ahead with our mineral harvesting,” Brown says.

“The thing that will be needed for the green transition is critical metals, which is why there’s an interest in our minerals.

“But the knowledge of those minerals, the knowledge of our ocean, for me, is far more valuable than the actual nodules themselves, because without that knowledge, without that understanding, you would not be able to realise and harvest that wealth that sits there.”

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Dr John C. Wiltshire, the president of the International Marine Minerals Society (IMMS) and technical chair of the 52^nd Underwater Minerals Conference, says the talk about seabed mining may seem new to many but it started over a century ago.

“I mean, this has been investigated for decades and decades, we know these things are out there, the manganese nodules were actually found in a British expedition that found them in 1872,” says Dr Wiltshire, who is also the director of Hawai’i Undersea Research Laboratory, a regional undersea research programme within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at University of Hawai’i.

“We’ve known about them for a while, over a hundred to 150 years, and people are talking about how do we actually mine them and get … the first mining expeditions went out in the 1970s.

“It’s a long-term thing and what I think where people get scared of is when they haven’t heard of these before, and all of a sudden, something terrible has come in the ocean, that it’s going to destroy our ocean. And nobody has thought about this, and it’s totally new.

“Well, it’s been here for 150 years, and they’ve been talking about mining it for more than 50 years and people are doing ongoing research.”

Dr Wiltshire reminisced about his journey in the Cook Islands when he first arrived in 1980 and was working with a German group looking into polymetallic nodules.

“Looking at manganese now, that’s like almost 50 years ago. So there are many groups from many nations who have looked at these things for many years,” he says.

“And what this (UMC) conference does is it’s a way for all of those people to get together and share research they’re doing and what research they need to do.

“The conference itself really doesn’t have breakthroughs per se, we’re not doing research ourselves. What we do is present a way for people to get together and talk with each other about what they’re doing.

“And it’s the individual people and the individual research entities in two dozen countries that make breakthroughs and to be honest, I wouldn’t say there are particularly are any breakthroughs.”

Dr Wiltshire advices that if the Cook Islands decides to proceed with mining operations, they should avoid overmining nodules.

He explains that extracting some nodules from the seabed will not kill the ocean and will not destroy all the many nodules that are there.

“There are always impacts with removing stuff, if you remove fish, but that doesn’t mean that the fishery is dead. And that doesn’t mean that the ocean is dead,” Dr Wiltshire explains.

“If you remove a few nodules, there are a few less nodules, but you know, the ocean is, is abundant and is very big.

“When you remove trees from the forest, but you can’t remove all, and you can’t remove it in a way that that’s not sustainable. You have to be respectful and sustainable of the resource, whether that resource be nodules, whether it be fish, whether it be trees, whatever it be.

“You have successful fishing here, but the taking of fish doesn’t kill the ocean and doesn’t kill the fisheries.

“So, what you’re saying is there’s a lot of concern that things be done in a respectful and a sustainable manner. And if they’re not, of course there can be problems. That’s why you have laws for and regulations and, and enforcement.”