From Mining.com June 20:
The Norwegian government outlined on Tuesday details of a plan to open its sea floor for commercial mineral exploration and extraction, targeting metals considered essential for the transition to a greener economy.
The European country, whose vast oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world’s wealthiest nations, is positioning itself as a frontrunner in deep-sea mining in Europe.
The move also seeks to diversify Norway’s economy away from fossil fuels, Petroleum and Energy Minister Terje Aasland said in a statement.“We need minerals to succeed with the green transition,” Aasland said, adding that mining the seabed could be an “important source of minerals”.
“If proven to be profitable and extraction can be done sustainably, seabed mineral activities can contribute to value creation and employment in Norway while ensuring the supply of crucial metals for the global energy transition,” Aasland said.
The areas to be opened are situated in the Greenland Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea and cover an area of about 280,000 square kilometres (108,000 sq. miles), about the size of Ecuador or the state of Nevada....
....MUCH MORE
June 9 with some of our previous links:"Norway seeks to open vast ocean area to deep-sea mining"
