Mining the Deep Seabed: Is Malaysia Ready?

Abstract

The mineral industry is expanding fast coinciding with the increase in demands. The depleting land-based minerals has led to the seeking of mineral resources especially from deep sea. Deep seabed minerals have high concentration of precious metal in comparison to land-based minerals. A lot of countries have started to explore and exploit the deep seabed minerals. Thus, it is necessary for Malaysia to commence on deep seabed mining exploration to reap its economic and technological benefits. Similarly, like land mining, the marine environment will face environmental degradation from deep seabed mining exploration. Being a State-party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982) and Convention of Biological Diversity 1994 (CBD), Malaysia has yet to develop a set of policies, regulations and laws related to deep seabed mining to mitigate its effect to the marine environment coinciding to the requirements of these conventions. The purpose of this study is to explore the preparedness of Malaysia to embark on exploration of deep seabed mining in areas beyond the national jurisdiction while observing the effects of deep seabed mining to the marine environment. The challenges in exploring the deep seabed mining as well as the relevant international and national laws related to deep seabed mining will also be observed in this study.