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Available for download: New Fact Sheets on Seabed Mining

1 June 2016 at 5:00 pm

SOS NameIn 2012 and 2014, the Department of Mineral Resources granted three prospecting rights for marine phosphate covering approximately 10% of South Africa’s exclusive economic zone. In response to concerns that unsustainable bulk marine sediment mining will soon be authorised in South Africa, a group of organisations formed the Safeguard our Seabed Coalition. Since 2015 the Safeguard our Seabed Coalition, of which the Centre for Environmental Rights is a member, has been pursuing a moratorium on bulk marine sediment mining in South Africa.

There is relatively limited knowledge on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of bulk marine sediment mining. As such, the Safeguard our Seabed Coalition has developed a series of Fact Sheets to raise awareness on the risks and impacts associated with bulk marine sediment mining.

The Fact Sheets aim to provide an introduction to decision-makers and other interested parties on the risks posed by bulk marine sediment mining in South Africa, the status of seabed mining internationally and the rationale for why a cautious approach to bulk marine sediment mining should be adopted in South Africa.

There are three Fact Sheets in this series:

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