He is among the world’s leading researchers on seabed minerals. And he knows the Norwegian shelf better than most. Now the Canadian researcher John W. Jamieson (see fact box) has a clear message for Norwegian politicians: Those who believe that seabed minerals are an economically viable industry today are wrong. Commercial mining on a large scale has never been attempted, and will require major technological development. Will Norwegian actors be good at finding minerals because we are good at finding oil and gas? Not necessarily. The technology transfer will be of limited use, believes Jamieson. Are there minerals worth extracting on the Norwegian continental shelf? As of today, researchers do not know enough to be confident about that. The researcher would like more people to ask the last question in Norway. – Norway seems to be rushing past this issue, and there seems to have been a lack of dialogue with experts in the field, says Jamieson, who belongs to the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. John W. Jamieson is a respected researcher in Canada, but has also done considerable work related to seabed minerals on the Norwegian continental shelf. Photo: Privat The Norwegian Continental Shelf Directorate, which on 1 January 2024 changed its name from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, rejects that Norway is rushing past important issues. The directorate responds to several of Jamieson’s claims. State Secretary Astrid Bergmål (Ap) believes it is unclear what forms the basis for some of the claims made by the researcher. John W. Jamieson Associate Professor and Researcher at the Memorial University of Newfoundland Canada Research Chair for Marine Geology. Has studied seabed minerals, with a particular focus on sulphides, for over 20 years. Has also worked with exploration for land-based minerals in arctic regions in Canada. Jamieson has also done significant work related to seabed minerals on the Norwegian continental shelf, and has taken part in four research expeditions in the areas in which the government wants to look for minerals. Sp majority in the Storting to allow the extraction of minerals from parts of the Norwegian continental shelf, with support from the Conservative Party and FRP. The politicians hope that a new industry will take shape on the Norwegian continental shelf. The world has a great need for minerals and metals, and China controls more than half of this market today. The Storting has reached an agreement on a step-by-step opening for mining on the seabed. John W. Jamieson has mainly researched so-called sulphides, also known as copper, zinc, gold and silver. There does not seem to be enough of this type of mineral on the Norwegian continental shelf for it to be economically interesting, the researcher believes. What is needed for mining on the seabed to be economically viable? The minerals must be of high quality and large enough for it to be worth mining. Preliminary findings that the researchers have made from the areas Norway will explore, on the Mohns and Knipovich ridges, show both large and small finds of sulphides. All in all, these appear to be of very low quality, according to Jamieson. The discoveries were made on the surface. But what do you find by drilling further down? Minerals on the surface tend to be of a higher quality than from drilling. These are not normally representative of how large the mineral values are, says Jamieson. – The various groups in Norway and the world that promote the economic potential of mining seabed minerals often seem to mistakenly assume that any hydrothermal deposit can be economically viable. That is far from the truth, says Jamieson. Sulphide chimneys are found at underwater volcanoes, and can grow several meters high. Here together with the robot Ægir. Photo: Center for Deep Sea Research The Danish Continental Shelf Directorate’s director of communications Ola Anders Skauby says that neither the Danish Shelf Directorate nor interested communities share this view. – This is a claim that we will strongly refute. What Jamieson bases his claim on is unknown and incomprehensible to us, says Skauby. Ola Anders Skauby is director of communications in the Danish Continental Shelf Directorate. Photo: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate He points out that the Directorate, in collaboration with the University of Bergen (UiB), has collected and analyzed a large number of samples of sulphide deposits. These partly show a high content of copper and zinc, and varying amounts of gold and silver, emphasizes the communications director. State Secretary Astrid Bergmål (Ap) emphasizes that opening up areas is not the same as starting the extraction of seabed minerals. An actor may not start extraction before any approval, and then more knowledge must be gathered. – It is unclear what forms the basis for Jamieson’s statements, says Bergmål. Astrid Bergmål (Ap) is state secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Jamieson replies that he is aware that initially parts of the shelf are being opened for exploration, and not extraction. – But why would a company bother to search if the goal is not extraction? Criticizes the Norwegian authorities: – People with knowledge and experience are not heard. Jamieson points out that large-scale, commercial mining has not been attempted before. Here, significant technological development will be necessary. And there is a limit to the amount of help Norway can get from the oil and gas industry, the researcher points out. Both industries involve work in the depths of the sea and mapping of the seabed. When it comes to exploration, assessment and extraction, seabed minerals and oil are two very different industries, the researcher points out. – Of course there is a lot to learn from the industry, but these industries are very different. I don’t think the technology exchange from the oil industry will be as transferable as many hope, says Jamieson. The area the government wants to open up for exploration is 281,000 square kilometers and lies in the Barents Sea and the Greenland Sea. Photo: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Skauby of the Norwegian Subsoil Directorate says in a comment that he strongly disagrees with this. – Until now, it is this technology that has been used, and which has enabled us to do all the mapping and exploration of seabed minerals, says Skauby. He points out that the directorate and the research communities already use adapted underwater robots, drilling technology and solutions for geological mapping. The Directorate believes that experience from oil and gas will be essential in the development of new technology. Are seabed minerals Norway’s next big opportunity? Here copper mineral is shown on a darker sulphide sample collected from the Mohnsryggen in 2020. Photo: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Researcher Jamieson believes there seems to be far too much optimism among Norwegian politicians. Is there even anything worth extracting on the NCS? Jamieson is concerned that Norway is pushing for an industry that may not be economically viable, even before considering the possible environmental effects such activity could have on the sea. – The voices of people with knowledge and experience from land-based mineral exploration are not heard, says Jamieson. Earlier in 2023, two leading ocean researchers, Lise Øvreås and Peter Haugan, from the University of Bergen, went out and warned against mining on the seabed, together with researchers from other European universities. The purpose-built ship “Hidden Gem” is returning to port in November 2022 after eight weeks of trials in the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii. Photo: GUSTAVO GRAF MALDONADO / Reuters The Norwegian Continental Shelf Directorate’s Skauby points out that an impact assessment has been carried out with a public consultation, and that the Directorate does not know what basis Jamieson is basing his concern on. He recommended that news contact other expertise environments, and suggested, among other things, the Center for Deep Sea Research at UiB and Offshore Norway – which news had already contacted. UiB researcher and associate professor Eoghan Reeves has worked closely with Jamieson in particular, and says he largely agrees with the Canadian researcher. Need more time and resources Reeves works at the Center for Deep Sea Research at UiB, and believes that many Norwegian researchers in both biology and geology do not get enough time or resources to carry out the basic research that is needed. He points out that the Center for Deep Sea Research has repeatedly, as recently as this month, stated to the Norwegian authorities that there is not enough knowledge to safely proceed with the extraction of minerals on the Norwegian continental shelf. Deep sea researcher Eoghan Reeves at UiB shares John W. Jamieson’s opinion about an exaggerated optimism about the resource potential on the Norwegian continental shelf. Photo: Milana Knezevic Obtaining more detailed knowledge of the ocean depths on the Norwegian continental shelf will take many months and years of exploration and research. – Industry actors in Norway believe that it is possible to speed up such exploration, but there are inherent limits to this. The seabed is simply enormous and technically challenging to work in, says Reeves. Over 800 scientists and experts from 44 countries, including Reeves, have signed a petition to stop deep-sea mining. The researchers fear the consequences will be a loss of biodiversity and an irreversible development in the ocean’s ecosystem. The government: – Norway must be the country in the world that is best positioned State Secretary Astrid Bergmål (Ap) in the Ministry of Oil and Energy says that the government agrees that there is not enough knowledge about the deep seas to extract minerals from the seabed. However, the government believes that this knowledge can be obtained by mobilizing state resources and private actors who are interested in possible recovery. – We do not have all the answers. Nobody does that today. Therefore, together with academia and business, we must explore, learn, understand and see the consequences. And then, and only then, we should perhaps allow the extraction of seabed minerals, says Bergmål. In December, the Labor Party, the Conservative Party, the Progress Party and the Center Party met the press to talk about an agreement on seabed minerals. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB She disagrees that there is a limit to what the oil and gas industry can offer in this context. Bergmål points out that Norway has a world-leading offshore and technology environment that is used to operating in deep water under demanding conditions. – Norway must be the country in the world that is best positioned to explore the possibilities for sustainable, responsible and profitable mineral operations on the seabed, says Bergmål. Offshore Norway: – A paradox Håkon Knudsen Toven is specialist manager of the interest organization Offshore Norway, which was previously called Norwegian Oil and Gas. Nor does Offshore Norway disagree with Jamieson’s considerations that more information must be collected before commercial mining on the seabed can take place. – But that is why a broad majority in the Storting has stood behind the government’s step-by-step opening process, where the first phase is exclusively an exploration and mapping phase, says Toven. He emphasizes that Norway has a political responsibility to secure critical value chains in the green shift. If not, Norway and the West may fall into the same trap as Europe, which learned an expensive lesson by becoming dependent on Russian gas. – It is a paradox that the critics of this opening process are concerned about the environmental consequences of a possible Norwegian industry, while at the same time they seem completely unaffected by the fact that Norwegian batteries, offshore wind turbines and other green energy are today built with minerals and metals mined in countries such as China, Malaysia and Congo, says Toven.
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John W. Jamieson warns against commercial extraction of seabed minerals on the Norwegian continental shelf – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
