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Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

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the Ministry could benefit, as is currently the practice in the petroleum<br />

industry, by charging a fee for the use of that data. She said that there is an<br />

ongoing dialogue with the Ministry on this issue as well as with the Chamber<br />

of Mines.<br />

Environmental protection.<br />

Ms. Zaamwani said that she is of the opinion that the <strong>Minerals</strong> Act is<br />

very rigid with regard to environmental protection because along with an<br />

application, a potential operator is expected to submit an environmental<br />

impact assessment statement. She said that without an opportunity to scout<br />

the area, this was a very difficult task for any potential operator. She said that<br />

the Act requires the applicant to provide an indication of the condition of the<br />

environment, what the applicant expects the condition to be after mining, and<br />

the measures that the applicant proposes to take in order to minimize the<br />

impact of its activities on the environment. She said that offshore operators<br />

are subject to the same requirements, incurring costs to meet these<br />

requirements. She also said that once the environmental impact assessment<br />

statement has been approved, it is transformed into an environmental<br />

management plan, which becomes part of the license.<br />

Ms. Zaamwani said that as part of the environmental impact<br />

assessment study a lot of public meetings are held and views are solicited<br />

from the public on impact of the proposed mining operation in their<br />

geographic area. She informed participants that in some cases public opinion<br />

prevails against the application. She said that in these cases Government<br />

rejects the application. She noted that in the case of NAMDEB, it is in the<br />

process of being audited for accreditation to ISO 14001, and with final<br />

auditing completed was waiting for the outcome.<br />

With slides, Ms. Zaamwani stated that the management of waste on<br />

board vessels is an important concern of all operators. She said that operators<br />

go to elaborate lengths utilizing different processes to separate the various<br />

wastes that they generate.<br />

Health and safety<br />

INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 780

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