Bergen, Norway – Norwegian deep sea mining company, Loke Marine Minerals, has declared bankruptcy.[1] Loke had dreams of becoming the world's largest deep sea mining company, holding licenses in the Pacific as well as setting their eyes on the Arctic. Now, their deep sea mining dreams have been shattered. Loke also owns UK Seabed Resources, which holds the UK's two deep sea mining licenses in the Pacific.
In November last year, Loke Marine Minerals, pleaded for new investors, but recognised that they were struggling.[2] The reason: their potential investors "were not immune" to the strong resistance against deep sea mining. Today's news comes as protestors disrupted a deep sea mining conference in Bergen.[3]
This is the latest blow for the struggling industry, with another deep sea mining company, Impossible Metals, also having to postpone plans for mining tests due to funding issues.[4] These blows follow a meeting of the United Nations regulatory body, the International Seabed Authority, last week – which concluded with widespread international condemnation of Canadian mining firm The Metals Company moving to bypass the United Nations process and seek unilateral approval to start mining in the Pacific from the US.
Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, a campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, said:
"On the same day that we shut down a deep sea mining conference in Bergen, deep sea gamblers Loke Marine Minerals announced their bankruptcy. Deep sea gambling does not pay off. This dangerous deep sea mining company declaring bankruptcy is yet another symbol of a desperate industry in crisis, and it is a win for all those who have campaigned so hard to stop deep sea mining in the Arctic and the Pacific. Now we must secure a global moratorium to stop this desperate industry."
The UK government sponsors two deep sea mining exploration licences through the UK deep sea mining company UK Seabed Resources (UKSR) covering 133,000km2 of the Pacific Ocean. That's an area larger than England. UKSR was acquired by the Norwegian company, Loke Marine Minerals, in March 2023, having previously been owned by US weapons company Lockheed Martin. Loke's Chairman, Hans Olav Hide told Reuters after the acquisition that the company's ambition was "to start extraction from 2030".
Erica Finnie, a campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said:
"Loke's bankruptcy just goes to show how incompetent this nascent industry is and it's putting our oceans in grave danger. Reasons to back a moratorium to stop rogue companies destroying the seabed are mounting by the day. The UK government needs to stop wasting time pushing for a deep sea mining rulebook, get fully behind the effort to secure a moratorium, and drop UK deep sea mining licences immediately."
Deep sea mining is a dangerous emerging industry, which continues to suffer setbacks as global opinion turns against the industry due to the severe harm it would cause to deep sea ecosystems.
Greenpeace urges governments to stand up to deep sea mining, and attempts by The Metals Company to bypass the United Nations process, by supporting a deep sea mining moratorium at the next ISA meeting in July.
