Jan 27 2014
The race for the ocean's store of metals and rare earth elements (REEs) has been a journey spanning over 50 years. Despite the efforts and $650 million dollars that have been pumped into this untapped market, the outcome has been disappointing, mainly due to technological limitations.
Next March, over 100 Government leaders, political influencers and deep sea mining experts will gather in London at the Seabed Mining Summit to explore the lucrative mineral resources beneath the surface of the seas. The investment opportunity, however, comes with a range of specific challenges; there are regulatory, legal, financial, social and technical issues that have to be resolved to make deep sea mining a commercial reality.
"The rise of the BRICS nations and the global hunger for rare earth elements (REEs) and industrial staples like Manganese, Nickel, Copper and Cobalt have converged with improving technology to raise seabed mining from the pages of fiction to a palpable commercial reality. With this in mind I look forward to welcoming the members of this burgeoning industry to London this March."
Luke Treacy, Director, Seabed Mining 2014
Key global experts speaking include:
- Caitlyn L Antrim, Executive Director, Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans
- Dr. James R. Hein, President, International Marine Minerals Society
- Tomasz Abramowski, Director General, Interoceanmetal Joint Organization
- Duncan Cunningham, Director, UK Seabed Resources
- Hannah Lily, Legal Advisor - Deep Sea Minerals Project, Applied Geoscience and Technology Division, SOPAC
- Paul Lynch, Seabed Minerals Commissioner, Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority
- Georgy Cherkashov, Deputy Director, Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ocean, (VNIIOkeangeologia), Russia
- Ong Ye Kung, Director, OMS
- Robert Heydon, Vice Chairman, Nauru Ocean Resources
- Dr. Thomas Kuhn, Exploration Geologist, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Resources, Hannover, Germany
- Dr. Warner Brueckmann, Energy & Resources, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany
- David Cronan, Professor in Marine Geochemistry, Imperial College, London
- Paul Holthus, Founding CEO and President, World Ocean Council
The Seabed Mining Summit will take place on 24th-26th March 2014. To find out more, review the full programme, speaker list and registration at http://www.seabedminingsummit.com/press, call +44-(0)20-7036-1300 or email [email protected].
Press are invited to attend this important industry forum. If you would like a complimentary press pass please email Stacey Cross, [email protected]
Media contact: Stacey Cross, +44-(0)20-7368-9725, [email protected] or visit http://www.seabedminingsummit.com/press
Source: http://www.seabedminingsummit.com/