Seabed Mining Authority (SBMA) says it will be reaching out to the community, especially older generations, to consult with them about their preliminary findings from the ongoing seabed minerals exploration.

Cook Islands is set to enter its fourth year of a five-year exploration phase to determine the feasibility of deep-sea mining for polymetallic nodules rich in cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese.

In an interview with Cook Islands News, SBMA’s director of partnerships and cooperation, Edward Herman, said the new year is another year of research.

Herman was asked about the Authority’s plans for 2025 amid ongoing opposition from environmental groups and members of the public.

“We’ve got another year, it’s another year of exploration, and we’re hoping to get more data, and continue the research,” Herman said.

He said the major initiative for the year would be the Ecosystem Based Management Framework (EBMF).

The Ecosystem Based Management Framework is the holistic framework for environmental programmes and associated stakeholder engagement

“The big one is the EBMF system, so end of last year, preliminary consultations we’ve done with TIS (Te Ipukarea Society), a lot of our government agencies, so we’re trying to do those consultations,” Herman said.

“I think in the next couple of months, there is going to be more consultations out and then public … the public needs to know, what is the system, how does this work? Like, when you get all your data, what are you going to do with that data? That’s, the key.”

According to Herman, the idea is to use this feeder into the system and to ensure they have the capabilities, as it is a new industry and sector.

He added that SBMA receive environmental assessments all the time from people such as hotel developers, people building on the beach, and others.

“You can’t just build on the beach. How are you going to protect that ecosystem around that beach or particular erosions? So those same methodology has to be applied to this, to the seabed as well. And it’s trying to make it, hopefully, we can make it simple for our people,” he said.

Herman has also given assurances, following critical allegations last year about a rush to seabed mining, that the SBMA will continue research this year, which requires considerable time.

There were allegations last year that the government’s consultation in New Zealand in November was merely a promotional exercise, as they had already decided to mine the seabed

Government has granted exploration licences to CIC, CIIC Seabed Resources, and Moana Minerals. The licences were granted on 23 February, 2022.