Correspondents' Correspondence
HENEGHAN, THOMAS LAND TOM
Correspondents' Correspondence bRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS. Mining in the Sea United Nations—The current session of...
...Most marine mining groups can still claim, at least in theory, that their development work is being carried out in anticipation of an international body that will issue licenses...
...Should the Law of the Sea Conference reach an accord, the firm may be forced to modify or halt its planning...
...Delegates to the conference, representing more than 150 nations, are trying to put together a comprehensive treaty that would assure the orderly exploitation of all ocean riches before unrestricted activity by the technologically advanced countries becomes the order of the day...
...Lying at depths of about 20,000 feet, they can be brought to the surface by suction through pipes, or by scraping the ocean floor with metal buckets...
...if the complex negotiations drag on, such lucrative "pirate" operations in the high seas could become widespread...
...That makes nodules look more attractive all the time...
...Several countries, including the United States and Canada, have in fact warned they will not wait indefinitely for an international agreement, implying possible unilateral action...
...But one American company, dropping all pretenses, has already taken a newspaper advertisement announcing its claim to a lucrative section of the Pacific...
...Another well-placed industry source predicts that "the cost of land mining is going to continue to go up as the grade of the ore continues to come down...
...Negotiations over changes in international marine law began in 1967...
...Norway, a major maritime power, has recommended the UN establish international machinery to regulate ocean development and seek reconciliation between conflicting interests...
...For the poor countries, many of whom are totally dependent on exporting a single metal, the new undersea operation could mean economic collapse...
...The focus of conflict is marine mining...
...For the companies, this could provide a permanent, relatively inexpensive solution to the problem of a growing shortage of essential materials...
...One suggestion was to compensate the developing countries for revenue lost as a result of the marine-mining...
...At the very least it would deprive them of one of their few remaining power levers in global trade negotiations...
...The conference participants, who also face difficult decisions on offshore fishing, generally agree there should be some regulation of sea mining by an international authority, with a large proportion of the profits going toward building the economies of the poorest countries...
...Three years later, the General Assembly resolution establishing the Law of the Sea Conference declared marine resources "the common heritage' of mankind...
...And companies in these two nations have just joined with others in West Germany and Japan to form a new consortium for marine mining, apparently with the tacit backing of their governments...
...The crucial minerals—copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and iron —are concentrated in deep-sea nodules about the size of tennis balls, formed over millions of years around small organic objects...
...The mood of the commercial community is reflected in the recent statement of an industrialist who complained of "powerful interests hoping to protect themselves from a depression of metal prices resulting from the introduction of a vast supply of metals from nodules...
...They have already invested vast sums in marine technology and can exert considerable pressure on their governments...
...Britain, also much concerned with and experienced in the use of the oceans, believes the prolonged process of diplomatic bargaining has created a real threat of sea colonization similar to the 19th-century imperialist land grabbing...
...The technology required for the mining is owned by a few companies, however, and they are reluctant to accept any arrangement that would limit their profit...
...Industrialists assume that marine mining will become a routine fact of business life within a decade, whatever the UN decides...
...Thomas Land...
...At their previous session, held March 15-May 7, proposals were offered that would severely limit deep-sea mineral production for the next two decades and protect the established suppliers...
...For how long...
...But such a solution would be difficult to implement...
...Mining in the Sea United Nations—The current session of the UN's Law of the Sea Conference, begun here August 2 and slated to end September 17, hopes to head off a desperate confrontation between a group of powerful corporations and the mineral-producing developing countries...
...What size payments would be sufficient...
Vol. 59 • August 1976 • No. 17
