A framework for the sustainable development of marine mineral resources in the Philippines

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Marine minerals - defined as minerals occurring on, or immediately below, the sea bed are now commonly extracted from continental shelf waters and are currently being explored in the oceans down to depths of several thousand metres. The quality, accessibility, volumes and proximity to market of marine minerals form core components of the attractiveness of marine resources. As pressures on land-based resources continue to grow, future demand for marine minerals is set to diversify, escalate and extend farther out into the deep ocean. The growth in the use of marine minerals is a result of their attractiveness to developers, national resource managers and regulators. It is arguable that there are advantages to extracting minerals from the continental shelf when compared to traditional terrestrial resource development. The first 'large-scale offshore extraction project in the Philippines was announced to commence operations in January 2021. Stakeholders/members of society have expressed strong concerns about the potential impact of the mining operations on ecological systems and linked livelihoods. The offshore mining project plans to mine (dredge) over three million metric tons per year of magnetite (iron ore). The government's objective is that the mineral will be a source of raw material for the country's integrated ironmaking and steelmaking facility in the near future. Offshore mining activities in the Philippines are expected to increase in the next several years, as the country holds rights to significant offshore mineral resources within its EEZ offshore area of 2.2 million square kilometers. Offshore the Philippines there are mineral resources that are potential ores of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, chromite, iron, manganese, cobalt, copper and aggregates. The titano-vanadium-magnetite resources alone, acceptably considered ores or iron, are estimated to be approximately one billion tons of raw mineral material. Given this backdrop, this proposal is timely in directly addressing programme objectives to fund new research that generates a whole system view of sustainable mineral production in the Philippines. Extracting resources from the seabed are known to impact seabed habitats, the adjacent water column (for example plumes) which affect the provision and flows of ecosystem services (benefits to humans). These include (and are not limited to) the permanent and irreversible loss of ecologically important habitats which provide contribution to food supply (e.g. nursery habitats for juvenile commercial fish); smothering and sediment plumes and pollution. In addition, extraction activities in some parts of the world, have been known to support some economic activity but also impact disproportionally and negatively on vulnerable and marginalized communities. It is therefore imperative that all offshore resource extraction activities are assured to be environmentally, socially, technically, legally, and economically sustainable.The proposed UK-Philippines collaborative research project "A framework for the Sustainable Development of Marine Mineral Resources in the Philippines" will promote socio-economic development and personal and community welfare through constructive sharing of experience and expertise and innovation in managing offshore mineral resources - including mineral exploration, resource assessment and management, governance, policymaking, regulation and planning, use of innovative technologies from exploration to monitoring, and researching environmental impact assessments, environmental risks, mitigation and monitoring performance. The project will research, share and develop knowledge, experience, technologies and best practices from exploration, resource management, regulation, environmental impact assessments, permitting and extraction across all marine mineral resource activities.