China bids for rights to search seabed
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E-mail China Daily, September 6, 2012
China may gain the exploration rights to search for metallic mineral resources in certain West Pacific Ocean seabeds in 2013 if the International Seabed Authority approves its application, Chinese authorities said on Wednesday.
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Jiaolong manned submersible makes record dives of more than 7,000 meters in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench during a 44-day test mission |
According to the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association, on July 27 it applied to the ISA, a United Nations body that oversees mining in international waters, to search an area of about 3,000 square kilometers in the West Pacific Ocean.
ISA confirmed the application on Aug 31 on its website.
After 15 years of research into the mineral resources, called cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, mainly in the West Pacific Ocean, the 3,000-sq-km area was selected after full consideration, Li Bo, deputy director of the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association, or COMRA, said on Wednesday.
COMRA offers an equity interest in a joint venture arrangement with ISA and will share at least 20 percent of its profits in the applied area with ISA in later exploration.
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