Norway's Loke buys UK deep-sea mining firm from Lockheed

TechnipFMC

16/03/2023 17:36

OSLO, March 16 (Reuters) - Norway's Loke Marine Minerals
has acquired deep-sea mining firm UK Seabed Resources (UKSR)
from Lockheed Martin  LMT.N , the companies said on Thursday.
    UKSR holds a 100% interest in two deep sea mineral licences
in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, and a
19.9% interest in the Ocean Mineral Singapore, licences issued
by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). 
    "We've got the approval from the UK government... Our
ambition is to start extraction from 2030," Hans Olav Hide,
Loke's chairman, told Reuters.
    Companies that also hold exploration licences for swathes of
the sea floor in the CCZ include Global Sea Mineral Resources
(GSR) and The Metals Company.
    "Following a detailed analysis of the business it was clear
that there was a better owner for our UK Seabed Resources
business," a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said.
    Through this transaction, Loke becomes the largest holder of
licences in the CCZ area spanning 4.5 million square kilometres
between Hawaii and Mexico. It declined to disclose the value of
the deal.
    The area is peppered with potato-sized rocks rich in cobalt,
copper, nickel, and manganese - key materials for technologies
driving the energy transition, such as batteries for electric
cars. 
    However, the plans of Loke and some other companies to
extract minerals from the ocean floor have been criticized by
environmentalists, who say the impact could be devastating to
little-known species living there.
    "Yes, it comes with some consequence to the environment, but
we believe that it will be smaller than extracting minerals on
land, if you, let's say, go into a rain forest," Hide said.
    Loke also said on Thursday that Norwegian Kongsberg Gruppen
 KOG.OL , which provides technologies for offshore oil and gas
production to airspace and defence, had taken a stake in the
company, joining TechnipFMC  1T1.F  and Wilhelmsen. 
    The ISA has yet to finalise long-debated regulations that
will govern seabed mining in international waters.
    Norway is also considering opening ocean areas on its
extended continental shelf in the North Atlantic for seabed
mineral exploration.

 (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis  Additional reporting by Helen
Reid in London
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((nerijus.adomaitis@thomsonreuters.com; +47 9027 6699; Reuters
Messaging: nerijus.adomaitis.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))