Indonesia Processing Requests for Deep-sea Mining Waste Disposal
two companies’ requests to dispose mining waste into the ocean, a senior government official said on Sunday, at a time of heightened sensitivity about the environmental impact of mining.The requests come as mining waste management is increasingly scrutinized after a nickel plant in neighboring Papua New Guinea spilled red mud into the sea last year due to an operational failure.Indonesia was a major nickel ore exporter until last year, before the government stopped exports in January to support the development of domestic smelters.The government is keen to produce stainless steel and battery-grade
Nido Robotics Debuts Two Underwater Drones
Pro and Sibiu Nano underwater drones. Sibiu Pro and Sibiu Nano underwater drones offer a new degree of precision, flexibility and convenience to sectors ranging from aquaculture to search & rescue. Nido Robotics' CEO and co-founder Roy Torgersen was engaged on a dive in 2012 in Papua New Guinea to locate the wreckage of a downed USS Dakota plane. The thought occurred to him that deep-sea missions of that nature, often conducted in extreme conditions, would be made substantially easier and safer with the use of suitably adaptable, affordable and portable mini ROVs.The fact that Torgersen
China Leading the Deep Sea Mining Race
increasing over time," Lodge said.If the rules are approved, it could take about two to three years to obtain permits to start deep sea mining under the current draft, Lodge said.Canadian Nautilus Minerals had tried to mine underwater mounds for copper and gold in the national waters off Papua New Guinea, but it run out of money and had to file for creditor protection earlier this year.This has not deterred others, such as Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), a unit of Belgian group DEME, and Canada's DeepGreen, to continue technology tests and research.In July, Greenpeace called for an immediate
Searcher Completes Northern Basins Study
Searcher Seismic announced the expansion of its modern offshore data library with the completion of its Northern Basins Prospectivity Study in Papua New Guinea.The independent multi-client company providing seismic datasets and associated products to the global oil and gas industry, said that in conjunction with Discover Geoscience, it has compiled the Northern Basins Prospectivity Study following its successful acquisition of the Solomon Sea Broadband Non-Exclusive 2D seismic survey in 2017.The study offers the industry a detailed understanding of the basins and hydrocarbon potential of the region
Ocean Infinity to Support Shell Survey
and will collect hydrographic data over an area in excess of 800 square kilometers, using up to three Ocean Infinity unmanned surface vessels (USVs), the company said.Guardian Geomatics, based in Perth, services the offshore oil and gas and renewable markets, with a footprint across Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the broader Asia Pacific region. Ocean Infinity acquired a 25% stake in Guardian in March 2019.Oliver Plunkett, Ocean Infinity’s CEO, said, “Our ability to utilize multiple USVs simultaneously to collect data across such a vast area, in such a short space of time
Subsea Mining: The Next Big Thing for UUVs
Meanwhile, at INESC TEC and elsewhere, including the University of Hawaii, underwater mining tools target the whole gamut of mining-support tasks.High-stakes opsSome high-capital mining and subsea players have already surged ahead, if mostly in the dredging of coastal zones. Earlier out than Norway, Papua New Guinea, Japan and the Cooke Islands have created rules to govern this nascent industry.Toronto-listed Nautilus Minerals is deeply involved in the Bismarck Sea project, Solwara 1, where the world’s first, large-scale, deep-sea mining project at depths of 1,600 meters targets copper that&rsquo
'Elusive' Omura Whale Spotted
to what had often been misidentified or just plain mysterious whales. For decades, they were mistakenly classified as small Bryde’s whales.When first classified as a species in 2003, Omura’s were only known in three locations – the Sea of Japan, the Solomon Islands east of Papua New Guinea, and the Keeling Islands, west of Indonesia. From 2003 through 2013, their known range expanded to a few more locations in the eastern Indo-Pacific region. After the release of Dr. Cerchio’s video, the number of documented sightings increased dramatically across the world including the
Leak Detection Sonar Deployed in the US Gulf
at 1,000 meters.According to Sonardyne, the system's ability to accurately localize leaks is unique to the Sentry systemThis latest deployment follows battery-powered deployments of the Sentry system by other major international and independent operators, in the US Gulf of Mexico and offshore Papua New Guinea. Sentry has also been used in the UK, where it demonstrated its ability to detect carbon dioxide leaks from the seafloor as part of an offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration project.Stephen Auld, Global Business Manager for Asset Integrity Monitoring at Sonardyne, said, &ldquo
Searcher Seismic Acquires Triok
Searcher Seismic, in cooperation with BGP, has completed the acquisition of the Triok broadband non-exclusive 2D seismic survey in the Northern Basins of Papua New Guinea.Following the acquisition of the Solomon Sea non-exclusive 2D in the northern basins of Papua New Guinea, the Triok broadband non-exclusive 2D seismic survey consists of 3,845 km (2,389 mi) of 2D long-offset, high-resolution, broadband seismic and offers regional coverage of the Cape Vogel basin and Huon Gulf.Andrew Weller, Asia-Pacific Manager for Searcher Seismic, said the survey will be the key to unlock several questions and
