UN body mulls deep sea mining amid demand for minerals

By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Pressure is mounting on an obscure U.N. body based in Jamaica to hit pause on plans to potentially open the world’s deep seas to mining as companies push for permission to extract metals from seabeds in international waters. The International Seabed Authority on Friday closed two weeks’ worth of negotiations without approving rules and regulations to oversee deep sea mining that would extract minerals used in green technology. The authority has yet to receive an application for actual mining. Countries and companies can start applying for provisional licenses on July 10th if the U.N. body does not approve a set of rules and regulations by July 9th.