Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said the country would not support deep-seabed mining within its exclusive economic zone during the 2025 United Nations Oceans Conference last month in France.
During the conference, Marape said there was insufficient scientific evidence to prove that deep-sea mining is environmentally safe. The comment aligns with a joint declaration signed by the prime minister and other Melanesian leaders in August 2023, agreeing “not to allow underwater seabed mining to be carried out in their jurisdictions.”
However, his position stands in sharp contrast to the country’s New Ireland province, where local authorities are paving the way for foreign companies, such as Canadian-based Nautilus Minerals, to begin mining the seabed, despite community-led opposition. Nautilus’ Solwara 1 project in the Bismarck Sea aims to extract gold and copper from the seafloor.
In 2023, Marape said that Solwara 1 could not proceed “until technology and studies show that it can be done in an environmentally sensitive manner.” In May of this year, New Ireland Governor Walter Schnaubelt said, “From my provincial government stand point, we support the project due to its latest technology from new mining methods more efficient and with minimal environment disturbance as opposed to previous method of mining by Nautilus Minerals.”
The Solwara 1 project is expected to commence toward the end of 2027.
Source: Papua New Guinea Post-Courier