At its recently held 19th session, the International Seabed Authority approved the application submitted in 2012 by the China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association (COMRA) for exploration of a cobalt-rich crust area in the Western Pacific. COMRA successfully obtained exclusive exploration rights and priority mining rights for the area. China has become the first country in the world to hold exclusive exploration areas for all three major international seabed mineral resources.

Cobalt-rich crust is a crust-like mineral deposit rich in cobalt, manganese, nickel, copper and other elements, found on the rock surfaces of undersea mountains. It consists mainly of iron-manganese oxides and is concentrated on the slopes and summits of seamounts at depths of 800 to 4,000 meters.

The cobalt-rich crust area for which China has obtained exclusive exploration rights this time is located in the Western Pacific seamount region, currently known to host the richest cobalt-rich crust resources, and covers an area of 3,000 square kilometers.

Since its establishment in 1994, the International Seabed Authority has successively laid down regulations for exploration activities involving the three major mineral resources in the Area: polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulfides and cobalt-rich crusts. Previously, China obtained exploration rights for a polymetallic nodule area in the Northeast Pacific in 2001, and exclusive exploration rights for a polymetallic sulfide area in the Southwest Indian Ocean in 2011.

It is reported that, in addition to China, an application for a cobalt-rich crust area submitted by Japan was also approved at this session. These are the first two exploration applications approved under the Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Cobalt-rich Ferromanganese Crusts in the Area, which the International Seabed Authority completed in 2012.

Headquartered in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, the International Seabed Authority is the authoritative intergovernmental organization that manages the international seabed area and its resources.

It is also reported that, according to sources with the Chinese scientific expedition team currently carrying out missions in the Pacific, the submersible “Jiaolong” will head to the cobalt-rich crust area for which exclusive exploration rights have now been obtained at the end of August to conduct scientific research, including near-bottom biological surveys and seabed videography.