Minerals from and the Law of the Sea

In the beginning...

• 1494 the Pope divided the oceans between Spain and Portugal
• by 1600's, since the oceans were limitless, everyone agreed that Freedom of the Seas should apply
• 3 mile strip of territorial sea along coasts
• 1930 League of Nations tried to codify further

Post WW II...

• Truman claimed resources on shelves out to depth of 200 m
• 1st LOS Conference in 1958:
• agreed on "innocent passage" but couldn't agree on width
• outlawed slavery, piracy; allowed hot pursuit, over flight, fishing
• allowed exploitation out to a depth of 200 m

Fishing

• Exclusive rights out to 12 or 50 or 200 miles
• Iceland went in a few years from 4-12-50-200 miles, only for fish
• Peru & Chile claim 200 miles even though there is essentially no continental shelf
• Lead to cod, tuna, shrimp wars

1960's: Resources started to be known

• manganese nodules seemed most likely possibility
• only the industrialized countries had ability to exploit
• "common heritage of Mankind"
• U.N. resolution on "common heritage"
• U.N. moratorium resolution on production

1982 Law of the Sea Treaty

• "common heritage of mankind"
• International Seabed Authority
• Royalties of 5-12% of gross or 2-4% of gross plus 35-70% tax on net profits
• 45 LDC's have ratified, 60 needed to make law, unlikely
• U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone: 3-200 miles offshore (large area)

Additional Features

• Territorial sea limits: 12 or 200 miles
• right of transit, innocent passage
• archipelago nations?
• resources within 200 miles belong to coastal states
• Deep Sea: "common heritage" zone

Additional Resources in the Modern Ocean

• Mn-nodules (Cu, Ni, Co)
• Phosphate resources
• Polymetallic sulfides
• Offshore placers
• Au, Pt, Cr, Ti, Sn, C
• Sand and gravel

Present & Future

• Little activity: too costly compared to onshore mines
• As world consumption continues to rise, the time for offshore deposits nears
• Need new technology
• Need more development of international laws

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