Photo courtesy of Te Ipukarea Society. Retrieved from teaonews.co.nz
Excerpt teaonews.co.nz
The proposal of seabed mining has been met with resistance from Indigenous communities and environmental groups in Aotearoa and the Cook Islands.
Ngāti Ruanui and Greenpeace Aotearoa travelled to Australia to disrupt an AGM of a mining company seeking to fast-track seabed mining in Taranaki.
Mining companies are in search of polymetallic nodules. These potato-shaped rocks contain metals like nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese which are argued to be crucial for energy security and technology.
Te Moana Nui a Kiwa has the highest concentration of these metals and the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific has been allocated as the mining zone.
The CCZ is halfway between Hawaii and Mexico and is administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) which has allocated contracts to companies sponsored by countries including Kiribati, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Nauru.