A four-year regional Deep Sea Minerals (DSM) Project has been designed to address the policy and law requirements of Pacific Island Countries. This is in relation to the potential mineral wealth on the seabed within their respective country’s waters.

This project will make a major contribution towards the sustainable management of deep-sea mining in the Pacific Islands Region. Deep-sea mining is expected to commence in the Bismarck Sea in Papua New Guinea within the next 3years that underscores the importance of having policy and law requirements in place.

Once implemented, they will provide effective environmental, financial and social management controls for the exploration and exploitation of deep-sea minerals. Mr. Akuila Tawake, Aggregate Geologist at SOPAC, a division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) who was recently appointed as Team Leader of the Deep Sea Mineral (DSM) Project said, that based on the results of previous studies, a number of these island countries have “promising” seabed mineral potential.