Seabed comes of age

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Newly elected president of the general assembly of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), Jesús Silva, hopes to attract new contractors and raise the organisation's profile during his one-year tenure.

Silva was elected to the post during the ISA's 16th annual conference which ended yesterday at its Jamaica Conference Centre headquarters in downtown Kingston.

"The Seabed Authority was established ahead of its time, so it wasn't realistic for it to have any immediate impact," Silva told The Gleaner.

"But with the increasing demand for mineral resources in the world, the Seabed Authority has a strong role to play."

Finalising regulations for prospecting and exploration of polymetallic sulphides in marine areas governed by the ISA was among the main issues of the two-week conference which was attended by more than 100 delegates.

At its July 2000 conference, the ISA adopted regulations that ultimately granted exploration licences for contractors to mine polymetallic nodules.

The nodules and sulphides are found at the sea's surface and are a source pf minerals such as cobalt, nickel, copper, iron, zinc and silver.

The Pacific is the most fertile region for nodules, while the highest concentration of sulphides is found in the Atlantic. Once exploration licences are issued, contractors are required to pay the ISA royalties.

Silva, who is also Spain's ambassador to Jamaica, stressed the importance of establishing sound mining codes.

"More private contractors and countries will be willing to come to us to invest in this (mining) activity, and the pace of exploration will pick up," he explained.

Currently, the ISA has eight contractors (seven companies and the government of India) which are certified to mine polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which is found in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Established in 1994 by the United Nations as an independent treaty organisation, the ISA has 160 members which are signatories to the Law of the Sea Convention. It administers exploration rights to 50 per cent of the Earth's surface.

Nii Odunton, a Ghanaian, is ISA's secretary general.