Seabed
Mining
Mining companies want to rip up our seabed. We will stand against them at every step.
What is seabed
mining?
Seabed mining uses huge machines to dig up the ocean floor for minerals.
Seabed mining would have devastating impacts on our marine environment.
Huge machines destroy the seafloor, sucking the material up to ships for processing then dumping the waste back down which creates sediment plumes that suffocate marine life.
The constant noise would drive away whales and dolphins, including our critically endangered Māui dolphins.
Mining companies claim they can predict and manage the impacts, but scientists disagree - the risks to our ocean ecosystems are too great.
Learn more about the impacts here:
There are three main kinds of mining proposed in our oceans around the world:
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Deep sea mining (DSM) strips minerals from the deep ocean floor, kilometers beneath the surface. This threatens parts of the Pacific Ocean where some of our marine life, including whales and seabirds, travel during migration. Because our oceans are connected, the impacts of DSM could effect us all. Find out more about deep sea mining here:
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Sand mining occurs at a few sites around Aoteroa, where sand is dredged from shallow waters for beaches and construction.
While sand mining damages the marine environment, it's a very different process from seabed mining, as it removes all material from the site.
Coastal communities are opposing sand mining at Pakiri Beach and Bream Bay. You can join their stand here:
Seabed mining impacts
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Seabed mining destroys the seafloor to extract minerals. The only place in the world this happens is in Namibia for diamond mining. Seabed mining involves digging up the seabed, extracting the minerals - usually on board a ship - and then dumping the majority of the waste back onto the seabed. This leaves sediment hanging in the water column and creates "dead zones" on the seafloor.
The seabed mining operations proposed in NZ would be unprecedented - they're experimental, untested, and the focus of KASM's work.
We won't let our ocean become an experimental industrial zone.
Seabed mining threats in NZ
For over a decade, wannabe seabed mining companies have been eyeing up two areas in the oceans around Aotearoa:
West Coast, North Island
Our west coast seabed contains huge amounts of iron-rich black sand that washed down from the volcanoes of Taranaki over millions of years. This beautiful black sand stretches from Whanganui all the way up to Cape Reinga - a huge area of ocean that's home to Māui dolphins, whales, and countless other marine species. Mining companies want to dig up vast areas of our seabed and ship the minerals overseas, leaving all the environmental damage here in our waters.
In 2012, the whole coast was covered in prospecting or exploration permits but our legal victories have driven most of them away. Today, Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) is targeting an area of the South Taranaki Bight and are included on the Fast Track list of projects. This is our fight right now. We can't let TTR get consent - their operation wouldn't just cause immediate harm, it could open the floodgates for seabed mining along our entire coast.
Chatham Rise
Phosphate nodules on the crest of the Chatham Rise (halfway between Banks Peninsula and Chatham Island / Rēkohu), 400m below the sea surface have been the focus of other seabed mining companies such as Chatham Rise Phosphate (CRP). While these minerals could potentially be used to supply phosphate needs of intensive farming, the uranium associated with these nodules is a concern for our land. This Chatham Rise is a special area of our ocean, home to deep sea corals and many other species which would be destroyed by phosphate mining.. CRP currently hold a mining licence, without a marine discharge consent.
The Fast Track Bill threatens to speed up approval for these destructive projects. Take action today to ensure our government understands there is no social licence for seabed mining in Aotearoa. Kiwi's do not want seabed mining here!
