Norway to double funds for seabed minerals exploration

The Norwegian Government has proposed to increase funding for mapping of seabed minerals and knowledge building.

In its revised National Budget for 2020, Norway is looking to boost its previous funding from 70 to close to 140 million Norwegian kroner.

Tina Bru, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, said:

“As a resource owner, it is in the state’s interest to have knowledge of the resource base on the Norwegian continental shelf.“

“The knowledge that is available is crucial both for establishing commercial mineral activities on the seabed and for good management of resources.“

The Storting adopted a new Seabed Mineral Act in July last year.

In line with the new Act, Norway will manage seabed minerals and will likewise consider opening parts of the Norwegian continental shelf for commercial and sustainable extraction.

It should also ensure that exploration and production takes place in an environmentally sound and sustainable way.

Also last year, the Norwegian Government initiated an impact assessment and resource assessment for mineral activities.

As part of this, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate carried out resource assessment of the mineral deposits over the Mohns Ridge in the western Norwegian Sea.

A total of 3900 line kilometres of geophysical seabed data was acquired using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

There is uncertainty about where the most interesting resources exist, what they consist of and how large they are.

Therefore, mapping is important to obtain sufficient knowledge as a basis for a resource assessment.

According to NPD, minerals that are commercially interesting are located at water depths, from 1500 to 3000 metres.

As part of an impact assessment NPD is also working to increase their knowledge about exploration and recovery methods.

Minerals on the seabed can be split into two groups; sulphide minerals along spread ridges and iron manganese crusts on bare rock on the seabed.

The NPD has collected some iron manganese crusts, and chemical analyses show promising results with regard to “green minerals”.

Furthermore, NPD has discovered previously unknown sulphide deposits during its surveys.

These deposits include metals and minerals important for wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar panels, computers and also mobile phones.