A report revealing that a Chinese company will conduct seabed mining tests in the Pacific next year has caused concern in Tokyo, with Japan fearing it is falling behind in the race to secure valuable resources.
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According to the Yomiuri newspaper, state-owned Beijing Pioneer Hi-Tech Development Corp has secured exclusive rights to explore two seabed sites just outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Minami-Torishima, a small but strategically vital coral atoll located about 1,848km (1,148 miles) southeast of Tokyo.
This remote atoll allows Japan to claim an EEZ encompassing nearly 429,000 sq km (166,000 square miles) of surrounding waters and seabed, including any mineral or energy deposits.
In a proposal submitted to the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA), the Chinese company said it plans to conduct experimental mining of manganese nodules over a 20-day period in an area covering 250,000 sq km (96,500 square miles), around 600km (370 miles) from Minami-Torishima.
Scheduled for August next year, the operation will utilise specialised equipment to vacuum up the nodules from depths reaching 5,000 metres (three miles). While the company aims to collect up to 7,500 tonnes of nodules, the primary focus appears to be testing its equipment rather than full-scale harvesting. Additionally, the study will assess the ecological impact of disturbing the seabed, the Yomiuri reported.
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In June, Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo and the Nippon Foundation conducted similar research within Japan’s EEZ near the island, identifying an estimated 230 million tonnes of nodules rich in cobalt and nickel. The nodules are small, round formations found on the ocean floor that formed over millions of years as minerals from the water attach to debris on the seabed.