The world’s attention is slowly but surely turning towards the Pacific's unknown, unquantified but unbelievably rich treasures in the form of precious minerals...


Though hotly sought after by seafaring explorers, imperialists and missionaries alike in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, the Pacific region has by and large been off the radar of the western civilisation in the twentieth century.

In more recent decades, western powers have dallied with tiny Pacific Islands governments mainly on the issue of support to causes dear to them in international forums like the United Nations or, in some cases, to further their geopolitical expansionist ambitions.

The limited interest of the developed world in them and their remoteness from the hustle and bustle of the western world has continued to retain the region’s status as the last frontier on many counts. But all that is now about to change: the Pacific region is becoming an area of increasing interest to several countries across the world. And it is not for the furtherance of territorial and strategic ambitions alone.

The oceans of the Pacific and the seafloor beneath them hold secrets no one knows. Largely unexplored, the world’s attention is slowly but surely turning towards its unknown, unquantified but unbelievably rich treasures in the form of precious minerals—at a time when most other known resources are fast depleting.

In the past couple of years, big mining corporations have been knocking at the doors of Pacific Islands nations seeking permission to explore the seas and seafloors in their Exclusive Economic Zones. In the last year alone, deals have been signed for exploration of minerals off the coasts of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji and the Cook Islands.

A couple of months ago, mining giant Nautilus symbolically presented the first tonne of ore mined in the seabed off PNG’s coast to the country’s mining minister. The prospecting operation deep under the floor of the Bismarck Sea hopes to find gold, zinc and copper deposits, which could well lead to PNG building the world’s first ever sub-sea gold and copper mine.

Then again the Kingdom of Tonga awarded South Korea the rights to prospect up to US$100 million worth of raw minerals from its seafloor. South Korea has won exclusive exploration rights to mine mineral resources in a 20,000-square kilometre area around the Tongan islands. It is expected to mine close to 300,000 tonnes of ore containing gold, copper and zinc.

While the Pacific Islands have every right to feel privileged and elated about the fact that they are sitting on such great mineral wealth, it is important for them to assess the potential pitfalls of accessing them as they team up with multinational corporations based in distant nations.

For one thing, they must not sell themselves short as they have done too often in the past. They must duly legislate to build sound financial systems to put the wealth gained to the benefit of their nationals in a secure and long-term manner, unlike in the case of Nauru, where the wealth that could have looked after several generations of Nauruans was frittered away in a matter of just a decade.

But the real potential for regional flashpoints that could deteriorate centuries long cordial relations between neighbouring islands nations lies in the fact that there is considerable confusion because of the lack of data on the territorial demarcation of the seafloor in their exclusive economic zones.

Last month’s workshop to assist Pacific Islands countries to prepare their submissions to the United Nations staking their individual claims to extend their territories into the continental shelf surrounding their coastlines was timely.

In accordance with Article 76 of the United Nations International Law of the Sea, several Pacific Islands nations including PNG, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and Tonga can legitimately lay claim to a combined 1.5 million square kilometres of additional territory beyond their present EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zones).

The submissions—the deadline for which is barely a year away —are required to be based on sound technical data and must meet the stringent requirements prescribed by Article 76. The workshop, organised by SOPAC, Geoscience Australia and the United Nations Environment Programme, has helped orient the nations in the complex tasks of identifying and collating data, analysing and finally, preparing the submissions in time for the deadline.

This is of utmost urgency in the interests of the islands nations.

In late March, the Kilo Moana, a ship chartered by the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, began surveying the seafloor for sulphide-containing minerals in Tongan waters, particularly around the Lau group of islands, which belongs to the republic of the Fiji Islands. Accompanying the researchers were professionals from Nautilus, which was given an exploration licence by Tongan authorities last December.

Another Australian company, Neptune, has said it will apply for mining licences off New Zealand and begin trial mining by 2010 using the New Zealand government’s compiled data. Though the two companies are prospecting in different parts of the southern Pacific Ocean, there is a theoretical possibility of a potential conflict because there is no continental shelf boundary defined between Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand according to the requirements of the United Nations Law of the Sea.

If, for argument sake. we assume the surveys showed rich deposits in the waters around Lau, for instance, it could lead to a contentious situation. Though it has deep historical and cultural links with Tonga, Lau is now part of Fiji, but in the absence of the continental shelf boundary, it would be hard to claim ownership of the mined seafloor for either country.

There has been a precedent of sorts to such a potential future conflict: In the 1970s, Fijian officials made a claim that Minerva Reef, located some 400 kilometres off the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa, was Fiji territory. Subsequently, some enterprising folks planted a flag there claiming the reef belonged to the “Republic of Minerva”.

On getting wind of that, a young prince of Tonga sailed to the reef, took down the flag and replaced it with the Royal Tongan standard. That prince is none other than the soon to be crowned King of Tonga, Siaosi Tupou V.

The larger countries of the Pacific are pressing hard to work out the extent of their continental shelf boundaries with international agencies like the United Nations. Just last month, Australia announced it could now lay claim to an additional 2.5 million square kilometres of continental shelf following a ruling by the United Nations commission determining the extent of countries’ continental shelves.

This opens the doors to a range of natural resources lying below the seafloor off Australia’s coasts like oil and gas, minerals and also aquatic and littoral resources in the waters around it. The ruling comes at a time when there is an increasing interest from global players in mining the Pacific seafloor.

It is in the interest of each Pacific Islands nation to expedite the demarcation of such boundaries to save themselves from both exploitative situations from their rich commercial partners and damaging the long-term political and cultural relations with their neighbours. It is hoped that last month’s workshop and the support of international organisations will help the islands nations meet next May’s deadline.