Workshop on the Establishment of a Geological Model of ...

The <strong>Workshop</strong> was informed that the first of three research cruises under the Kaplan Project on
biodiversity research in the CCZ, had taken place in February and March 2003. ISA participation in that fiveyear,
privately funded cooperative venture by research institutions in several nations had been
recommended by the Authority’s <strong>Workshop</strong> of July/August 2002 on marine scientific research. That study of
animals in the zone, and their geographical distribution, was expected to produce recommendations on the
measures needed to protect deep‐sea fauna from the effects of nodule mining.
3. Opening Remarks
The opening meeting of the <strong>Workshop</strong> was addressed by Jonetani Cokanasiga, Minister for Home
Affairs and Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Fiji, who recalled that Fiji had been among the first countries
to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, as well as one of four nations to offer a site for the Authority’s
headquarters.
Minister Cokanasiga observed that Fiji had had a long history with land‐based mining, going back to a
70‐year old gold mine at Vatukoula, and said that he hoped the development of ocean resources within Fiji’s
200‐mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) would one day exceed the output of its mineral resources on land.
He noted that the Pacific Ocean was home to a broad spectrum of resources, in international waters as well
as within national jurisdiction and, for that reason, Fiji was greatly interested in whatever the <strong>Workshop</strong>
might do to throw light on the possibilities. He hoped the modelling techniques developed by the meeting for
the CCZ might also help Fiji establish future benefits from its own EEZ, since ocean mineral development was
“more than likely to be here in our backyard than someplace else”.
ISA Secretary‐General Satya N. Nandan, in his introductory remarks, said that the problem of assessing
deep‐ocean mineral resources could be simply stated: “The water is very transparent but the ocean is very
opaque.” He said that a geological model of the ocean floor would provide a better understanding of the
geological and geophysical conditions of the seabed. He also said that the task of the <strong>Workshop</strong> was to
provide a practical and cost‐effective approach to developing such a model and suggested that the model
could be built up from the wealth of data gathered since exploration for polymetallic nodule deposits that
had begun in the 1970s. He noted that the data that had been gathered encompassed information on the
growth and formation of nodules, their metal contents and where nodule deposits are located.
Mr. Nandan informed participants that a primary responsibility of the Authority was to assess the
resources in the areas of the seabed reserved for it to undertake future mining. He said that that assessment
had to be based on data submitted by the entities that had prospected significant areas of the seabed for
polymetallic nodule deposits before applying to the Authority for contracts to explore smaller areas. He
noted that this was the most cost‐effective manner to acquire the data, since the Authority did not have
funds to conduct its own prospecting campaigns. He further noted that the enormous size of the CCZ and the
varying quality of the nodules within it defined the scope of the problem. He emphasized that to develop the
best possible model, ways must be found to take advantage of all available data from contractors in their
respective areas and from public sources of broader scope. He announced that ISA planned to convene a
meeting with contractors to discuss ways of obtaining additional data.
4. The Authority’s efforts in resource assessment of reserved areas
In outlining the Authority’s expectations of the workshop, Nii Allotey Odunton, Deputy to the
Secretary‐General, stated that the initial presentations at the <strong>Workshop</strong> would be on the Authority’s efforts
to undertake resource assessments. Those would be made by Kaiser de Souza, marine geologist of the
Authority, Robert de L’Etoile of Geostat Systems International, and Baidy Diène of the Authority’s Legal and
Technical Commission. They would inform the workshop of the status of the information and data
maintained by the Authority for resource assessment, steps that had been undertaken to validate those data,
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