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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 30 april 2025
Canadian company turns to Trump for permission to mine

international waters, bypassing a U.N. agency

By DÁNICA COTO world must now step up to
Associated Press defend international rules
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico and cooperation against
(AP) — A Canadian com- rogue deep-sea mining.”
pany announced Tuesday For years, members of the
that its U.S. subsidiary sub- authority’s council have
mitted applications to the debated how and if to al-
National Oceanic and At- low deep-sea mining. So
mospheric Administration far, the authority has only
to mine the seafloor, spark- issued exploration licenses,
ing outrage by bypassing a with most of the current
U.N. agency that regulates exploratory activity con-
deep international waters. centrated in the Clarion-
The Metals Company said Clipperton Fracture Zone,
it was seeking two explo- which covers 1.7 million
ration licenses and a com- square miles (4.5 million
mercial recovery permit, square kilometers) be-
marking the first time a tween Hawaii and Mexico.
company applies to com- At least 17 of 31 licenses
mercially mine the seabed. have been issued for this
The filing is expected to zone, with exploration oc-
spark a complex legal curring at depths ranging
battle since the Jamaica- The view of Golfo Dulce and the Pacific Ocean is seen from a rainforest on the Osa Peninsula near from 13,000 to 19,000 feet
based International Sea- Cabo Matapalo, Costa Rica, March 20, 2023. (4,000 to 6,000 meters).
bed Authority, a U.N. agen- Associated Press UN convention ratified by
cy that regulates interna- dozens of countries but not
tional deep-sea waters, tional waters. Commerce to expedite the Company, said in a state- US. The International Sea-
has the power to authorize There are currently no regu- review and issuance of ex- ment. bed Authority was created
exploitation permits. lations in place to oversee ploration and commercial Environmentalists and ac- in 1994 by the U.N. Conven-
“Any commercial exploi- such mining as scientists recovery permits, among tivists decried the move, tion on the Law of the Sea,
tation outside of national warn that extracting min- other things. saying that ISA has the sole which is ratified by more
jurisdiction carried out with- erals from vital ecosystems “With these applications, power to authorize exploi- than 165 nations but not
out the authorization of ISA that help regulate climate we are offering the United tation permits. the United States.
would constitute a violation change could cause per- States a shovel-ready path “This unilateral American The Metals Company has
of international law,” the manent damage. to new and abundant sup- effort to carve up the Pa- argued that the U.S. sea-
authority said in late March Filing follows Trump direc- plies of nickel, copper, co- cific Ocean already faces bed mining code would al-
after The Metals Company tive The filing comes less balt, and manganese criti- fierce international oppo- low it to start operations in
announced its intention to than a week after U.S. Presi- cal metals for energy, in- sition,” said Ruth Ramos, international waters, since
seek permission from the dent Donald Trump issued frastructure and defense,” Greenpeace’s interna- it’s not a member of the
U.S. government to start an executive order that Gerard Barron, chairman tional senior campaigner. authority and therefore not
deep-sea mining in interna- directs the Secretary of and CEO of The Metals “Governments around the bound by its rules.q

Large fires are burning on the slopes of South Africa’s famous

Table Mountain

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Helicop- aged.
ters dropped water on large fires burn- Authorities closed roads and hiking trails.
ing on the slopes of South Africa’s Table Nearly 200 people, including some in
Mountain on Tuesday as police investi- nursing homes, were evacuated on Sun-
gated whether arson was the cause. day but later returned to their residences,
Table Mountain National Park first report- the park said.
ed the fires on Friday. It said in a state- Table Mountain is susceptible to wildfires
ment it believed that three fires were in the hot, dry months between Novem-
started deliberately. Police said they had ber and April. The last major fire on the
arrested one person on suspicion of ar- mountain was in February.
son. The park estimated that 3,000 hectares
The city of Cape Town said the latest fires (11 square miles) of vegetation have
were partly under control but there were been burned this time. The fires were
fears over more flare-ups. Wildfires there burning on the back slopes of the moun-
are often fanned by strong coastal winds tain and not the famous flat-topped part
that can cause them to move swiftly and that overlooks Cape Town’s city center.
burn out of control again. Around 250 firefighters have responded
No injuries were reported and no private to the fires, the park said.
residences had been damaged, city of- Smith said fire crews made progress over-
ficial JP Smith said. He said four vehicles night by using thermal imaging drones
and a motorcycle in a car park had been to identify the direction the fires were Wildfires burn on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town,
destroyed and other cars were dam- moving.q South Africa, Monday, April 28, 2025.
Associated Press