Source: PNG Mine Watch

Matangi Tonga

Parliament has passed a Seabed Minerals Act 2014, an act that regulates mineral exploration and potential mining in Tongan waters.

Tonga currently has no mining industry as the Kingdom has yet to discover mineral resources such as oil or precious metals. Past oil explorations have been made, but without success.

Recently however, three mineral exploration companies (KORDI, Blue Water Metal, Nautilus Minerals Tonga) were licensed to explore Tongan waters. The companies were prospecting for metals such as Gold, Cobalt, and Copper. Any significant discovery of metal resources has yet to be announced.

Act

One of the objectives stated in the Act was “to secure economic development of the Kingdom through the development of its Seabed Mineral sector;”

The Act establishes a “regulatory system and designates a responsible Authority to license, monitor and manage the Kingdom‘s involvement with Seabed Mineral Activities;”.

The responsible Authority designated in the act is “the Tonga Seabed Minerals Authority”. Failures to abide by the authority can result in large fines. For example, a fine not exceeding $150,000 is in place for anyone who supplies false or misleading information to the authority.

Other offences include a fine not exceeding $1,000,000 for anyone who engages “in any Seabed Mineral Activities unless, and only insofar as, authorised to do so under a Title issued under this Act.”

The Act was passed by the Legislature on 23 July and enacted on 25 August 2014.

The prospect of deep sea mining in Tonga, however, is questionable. Globally, seabed mining for metals is rare and largely considered to be unviable because of the immense challenges and costs of mining at deep sea.