SPC Geoscience Division

With the International Seabed Authority (ISA) granting Nauru Ocean Resources Incorporation (NORI), a Nauru registered exploration company, the right to explore for deep seabed minerals in the International Seabed Area (known as “the Area”), the country becomes the first Pacific Island nation to have secured such a licence.

With limited seabed mineral resources inside its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the licence gives NORI the right to explore an area beneath international waters, at estimated depths of 5000 metres.

NORI is owned by two Nauru foundations; the Nauru Health and Environment Foundation and the Nauru Education and Training Foundation. As a part of the licence application process, the ISA subjected the company to a rigorous screening of its history, financials and work practises.