<
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-urged-to-join-the-41-trillion-fight-playing-out-in-its-backyard/hvq5b8qcy>
"
Sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean are vast deposits of the critical
minerals that could drive a potential green transition.
The race to start mining these deposits has begun, and experts say what happens
next could impact Australia's relationship with once-reliable Pacific allies.
Commercial deep-sea mining in the Pacific has been on the cards for many years,
but the not-yet-existent industry had been on pause while a United Nations
agency responsible for the ocean floor develops guidelines for extraction.
That changed last year when United States President Donald Trump's
administration took the controversial step of issuing an executive order
allowing US companies to apply for licences in its Pacific territories,
sidestepping international law.
One US company has publicly committed to start operations as soon as 2027, and
in August the US shocked Pacific island communities by announcing it planned to
auction off a maritime territory near American Samoa for deep-sea mining.
In 2025, China signed a deal with the Cook Islands to co-operate on seabed
mineral development and research and is reportedly considering a similar
partnership with Kiribati.
Now the US and China are locked in a geopolitical battle in the Pacific to
corner the industry — valued at up to US$30 trillion ($41.88 trillion) — before
it's even begun.
The subject has starkly divided Pacific nations. Some want to cash in on the
new mining boom, while others worry the largely untested industry could wreak
havoc on the environment.
Experts warn this division could leave the region vulnerable to exploitation
and damage Australia's relations with its closest regional partners."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
