Nauru Could Earn Millions After Backing US Deep Sea Mining Pathway

Teuila
Fuatai, RNZ Pacific Senior
Journalist

Nauru is a step closer to mining in
international waters under highly
contentious United States legislation.

The path
has been set out in the nation’s new
agreement with Canadian mining group The Metals Company
(TMC) and sits outside international law.

News of it
comes as delegates from around the world have gathered in
Jamaica at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) – the
world’s deep sea mining authority.

Nauru is among the
body’s 170 members and has special rights to a deep sea
mining area of the Pacific Ocean in international waters
under international oceans law. This area is known as the
Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ).

The ISA’s jurisdiction
of the CCZ has effectively been challenged by the US, which
has claimed
its own authority over deep sea mining in international
waters through its high seas mining legislation.

Nauru
has had ambitions to mine in the CCZ for more than a decade.
Since 2011, it has partnered with TMC to explore its block
of the area for deep sea mining potential.

However,
after more than a decade of research, TMC has become
frustrated by its inability to gain a commercial mining
licence through the ISA because the body has not finished
developing a mining code. The process began in 2014 and is
ongoing.

Now, it has backed the US claim as a deep sea
mining authority, and international environmental lawyer
Duncan Currie of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition said it
was pulling Nauru with it.

The company, he said, had
effectively incentivised Nauru to mine under the US pathway
and break international law through the terms of its new
contract.

These included provisions for millions of
dollars in payments to Nauru as well as an option to buy
shares in TMC once deep sea mining occurred through US
legislation.

“[The contract specifically] states
[Nauru] will be paid set amounts once the company does
engage in seabed mining under the US regime. And it’s a
significant amount of money. It can be initial payments of
US$265 million and can go up to US$515m.

“And then on
top of that, there are what’s called share warrants, which
is the ability for Nauru to buy into The Metals Company at a
favourable price,” Currie said.

Meanwhile, potential
payment amounts available through the ISA pathway, should
mining occur, have been removed from the public version of
the new contract.

Currie believes it would be a
fraction of what had been offered through the US
pathway.

At the ISA meeting in Jamaica, delegates have
raised concerns over the conduct of TMC and the US. While
Nauru’s new contract had not come up in official sessions,
Currie said it was being heavily discussed on the
“sidelines” and “in corridors”.

“France, in
particular, referred to what they called the elephant in the
room. Then they changed it to a blue whale in the
room.

“[The contract] basically incentivises countries
to breach international law frankly, and it could lead to
other countries saying: ‘Well, this looks good. We’ll do the
same thing.’ So that’s really why it’s giving delegates
concern. And of course, this kind of rogue mining – which it
really would be – poses enormous risks to the deep
seabed.”

The ISA said it would not comment on the
contract, and the US agency in charge of deep sea mining –
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) –
referred RNZ Pacific’s request to TMC and Nauru. Neither
responded.

Thirty-seven countries support a moratorium
on deep sea mining in international waters. The practice has
divided the Pacific. Supporters include Nauru, Tonga and the
Cook Islands, while Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand were
against it.

‘We all belong to the same ocean’ –
activist

Indigenous rights advocate Solomon
Kaho’ohalahala was at the ISA meeting for Hawaiian NGO Maui
Nui Makai network. He wanted Nauru and mining supporters to
consider the whole region.

“I want to remind these
nation states that we all belong to the same ocean, and that
any of their activities that may be detrimental to that
ocean is going to have an impact on all of us,” he
said.

Ultimately, Duncan Currie said, Nauru had been
backed into a corner in this contract.

No amount of
money or compensation would fix that, he said, particularly
as the country stood to lose a lot.

“Nauru, by
entering into this agreement, has placed itself well outside
international law.

“Quite honestly, it is The Metals
Company wanting a quick return, and Nauru is left there
really getting what they can,” Currie said.

The new
contract between Nauru and TMC is dated 29 May. According to
online records of the US Securities and Exchange Commission,
it was filed with the agency on 4
June.

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