1.4 million euros for Dutch research into impact of deep-sea mining

Inactive Vent Ecosystem on the seabed
A deep sea ecosystem, around an inactive hydrothermal vent. There is still a lot unkown about the impact of deep sea mining on these types of ecosystems.

The Dutch contributing partners of the international MiningImpact3 consortium have been awarded 1.4 million euros by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The Dutch collaboration is coordinated by marine biologist Sabine Gollner from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), and consists of researchers from NIOZ, Utrecht University, Naturalis and TU Delft. Erik Molenaar and Tania Stratmann participate on behalf of Utrecht University in the consortium. The research is aimed at studying the long-term ecological impacts of deep-sea mining, as well as legal and technological aspects of deep-sea mining.

MiningImpact3 is an international research project studying the environmental impacts of potential future deep-sea mining, coordinated by Matthias Haeckel from GEOMAR (Germany). It focuses on two deep-sea ecosystems rich in critical metals: polymetallic nodule fields in the Pacific Ocean and seafloor massive sulfides in the Atlantic, along with the overlying waters. The third project phase (hence the name ‘MiningImpact3’) addresses knowledge gaps related to environmental changes, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions across space and time. Researchers will also assess the long-term effects of test-mining conducted at polymetallic nodule fields in 2021. The findings will help develop tools for managing, regulating, and governing deep-sea mining.

Dutch research team

A team of Dutch researchers from NIOZ, UU, Naturalis and TU Delft, who are part of the MiningImpact3 consortium, are now awarded 1.4 million euros. The Dutch research effort will be coordinated by Sabine Gollner from NIOZ. Erik Molenaar, who is affiliated with the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS) and the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL), School of Law, and Tanja Stratmann, who is affiliated with the Faculty of Geosciences, participate on behalf of UU in the consortium. The researchers’ contribution to the international project will include studying biodiversity on the seafloor and in the water column, modeling plume dispersal and food-web changes post test-mining, exploring restoration options, and establishing best available technology frameworks. They will also examine international deep-sea mining governance in relation to other regulatory regimes in the North-East Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, to ensure transparency at a time of growing societal concerns about environmental risks, the project will ensure that its scientific findings are accessible to the public, including by engaging a non-academic audience through exhibitions and science-art collaborations.

Internationally funded project

The funding is allocated from within the Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI Oceans) call ‘Ecological Aspects of Deep-Sea Mining’. NWO facilitates the Dutch contribution within this call on behalf of four ministries (IenW, LVVN, EZK, BuZa). In total, the MiningImpact3-project has received 9 million euros, of which about 5.7 million euros is from national funders, including from NWO.

A field of polymetallic nodules at the bottom of the deep sea. These nodules contain the metals of interest for deep-sea mining.
A field of polymetallic nodules at the bottom of the deep sea. These nodules contain the metals of interest for deep-sea mining.