Europe’s main natural gas supplier Norway has also become first country to approve commercial deep-sea mining
Norway, the nation that helped restore Europe’s energy security with natural gas, oil and LNG supplies after Russian links were cut following the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, has become the first country in the world to approve commercial deep-sea mining in its waters to supply rare minerals needed to make electric vehicles and other technology.
The Norwegian Parliament voted 80-20 on January 9 to approve a cross-party proposal that could revolutionise the global supply of minerals, which are pivotal for an array of clean technologies, including batteries for electric vehicles.
Under the new legislation Norway is opening up 280,000 square kilometres (108,000 square miles) of the Norwegian Continental Shelf, an area equivalent to the size of the UK, for the granting of exploration licences for minerals and chemical elements such as lithium, cobalt and scandium.
Norway’s approval of deep-sea mining in its own waters will add momentum to moves to open up some international waters for extracting rare minerals.
Mineral sources
Lithium and cobalt are only found below ground in a small number of countries, including onshore the Republic of Congo in West Africa, which will also soon become an LNG exporter with an offshore natural gas project being developed by Italian major Eni.
Norway itself has impeccable environmental and conservation profile as a nation and easily stepped in to increase its natural gas supplies to Europe when Russian deliveries were cut after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Norwegians are also Europe’s largest producers of hydro-electric power and more than 95 percent of their electricity and 50 percent of all the country’s power comes from renewables, including wind.
The Norwegians also run the Hammerfest LNG export plant on Melkoya Island in northern Norway supplying nations such as France, the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Spain and Lithuania with cargoes.
Failure of ideas
The Norwegian move on deep-sea mining was, of course, condemned by the environmental groups, run by the elites and who have forced governments to get petrol-driven cars off the road and replace them with electric vehicles without themselves coming up with any worthwhile suggestions except for sowing chaos and energy poverty.
Analysts say that estimates for the rare minerals industry’s new potential range from hundreds of millions to trillions of dollars.
They add that pressure from opponents mean detailed environmental studies will have to be carried out before any mining can take place, potentially delaying extraction until the 2030s.
None of Norway’s 17 protected marine areas are included in the Norwegian zones proposed for mining and the Government in Oslo has insisted that every commercial licence will have to be approved by its parliament, the Storting.
The first steps for commercial mining companies will be to undertake exploration and mapping activities to increase knowledge of what is below ground in the NCS.
