A Vancouver-based company looking to kick off a revolution in deep-sea mining has been caught violating its own protocols after two videos were leaked purporting to show waste sediment getting dumped into the Pacific Ocean, three advocacy groups claim.
The scientists who captured the video aboard the ship — and later leaked it to the three advocacy groups — had been paid by The Metals Company to monitor the environmental footprint of the company’s deep sea metal-harvesting technology, Coumans said. But Coumans says the leaked videos confirm opponents’ worries the company is not being transparent about its operations.
Describing the incident as “a minor overflow,” the company said some sediment and fragments of nodules poured out of the separator and over the deck of the ship during a seven- to eight-hour test run.According to company documents, sediment washed from the nodules on the ship is supposed to be returned deep under the sea before it’s released. That way, the risk it threatens marine species is minimized, the company says.
Document detailing sea trials suggests environmental monitoring flawed The Metals Company’s strategy to monitor sediment plumes produced by mining activity was "flawed to begin with,” according to a document allegedly written by scientists on the trip. Company says it has enough money to reach commercialization The Metals Company holds a licence to access four nodule-rich areas of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone through its wholly owned subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources.
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