Underwater mining to make batteries could create ‘a massive deadzone’ on the ocean floor. Canada has issued a temporary domestic ban — but regulating international waters is trickier
Francesca Fionda, The Narwhal
Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch
A leaked video of a deep-sea mining test showing a plume of sediment being released into the ocean is reigniting concerns about the controversial practice.
Galiano Gold says authorities investigating deaths of contractors near a tailings storage facility
A Vancouver-based gold mining company is reporting the deaths of two contractors at its operation in the West African country of Ghana.
Frank Landymore, Futurism
A group of scientists hired by a Canadian firm to monitor its deep sea mining operations was so alarmed by the firm's careless discharging of sediments into the ocean, The Guardian reports, they covertly recorded the dumping and leaked it to the public.
Leyland Cecco, The Guardian
Video footage from a deep-sea mining test, showing sediment discharging into the ocean, has raised fresh questions about the largely untested nature of the industry, and the possible harms it could do to ecosystems as companies push to begin full-scale exploration of the ocean floor as early as this year.
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On February 6, 2023, MiningWatch's Asia Pacific Coordinator Catherine Coumans testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade on the "environmental and human rights considerations regarding Canadian mining firms abroad."
The full recording can be viewed here.
Banning deep sea mining is among the measures one group of conservationists is hoping to see. They’ve made their voices heard today protesting outside IMPAC5. They say seabed mining can cause further harm to an already fragile ocean ecosystem. CBC News, Vancouver
“You're looking at mining an area that will be the biggest mining area on Earth if this goes ahead.” — Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada
Conservationists demonstrated in Vancouver Saturday outside an international conference aimed at protecting the world's oceans, as a B.C.-based company wants to capitalize on deep sea mining for a carbon-free future. Paul Johnson reports for Global News.
(Vancouver) Indigenous Peoples and citizens from Canada and across the world have gathered during a global ocean conference in Vancouver to urge the Canadian government to support a global moratorium on deep-sea mining.
This report looks at three examples of the application of the NPRI in the mining sector: the 2013 Obed Mountain coal mine spill in Alberta, the 2014 Mount Polley mine spill in British Columbia, and the Key Lake uranium mine and mill in Saskatchewan. These three cases show both some of the utility of the NPRI and some of its limitations in practical applications to support public interest research, policy development, and regulation.
