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

海洋矿物--定义为海床上或紧接其下的矿物，目前通常从大陆架水域开采，目前正在数千米以下的海洋中勘探。海洋矿物的质量、可获得性、数量和接近市场是海洋资源吸引力的核心组成部分。随着对陆地资源的压力继续增加，未来对海洋矿物的需求将多样化、升级，并进一步延伸到深海。海洋矿物使用量的增长是因为它们对开发商、国家资源管理者和监管者具有吸引力。有争议的是，与传统的陆地资源开发相比，从大陆架开采矿物具有优势。菲律宾第一个大型海上开采项目宣布将于2021年1月开始运营。利益攸关方/社会成员对采矿作业对生态系统和相关生计的潜在影响表示强烈关切。该海上采矿项目计划每年开采(挖掘)300多万吨磁铁矿(铁矿石)。政府的目标是，在不久的将来，这种矿物将成为该国综合炼铁和炼钢设施的原材料来源。菲律宾的海上采矿活动预计将在未来几年增加，因为该国拥有对其220万平方公里专属经济区近海区域内重要海上矿产资源的权利。菲律宾近海有潜在的金、银、铂、钯、铬铁矿、铁、锰、钴、铜和集合体等矿产资源。仅钛钒磁铁矿资源，可被认为是矿石或铁，估计约为10亿吨原材料。在这一背景下，这项提议在直接解决方案目标方面是及时的，以资助新的研究，以产生菲律宾可持续矿产生产的整个系统观点。众所周知，从海底开采资源会影响海底生境、邻近的水柱(例如羽流)，从而影响生态系统服务的提供和流动(对人类有益)。这些问题包括(但不限于)对食物供应有贡献的具有生态重要性的生境的永久和不可逆转的丧失(例如，商业鱼幼鱼的育苗生境)；窒息和沉积羽流以及污染。此外，众所周知，世界某些地区的采掘活动支持了一些经济活动，但也对弱势和边缘化社区产生了不成比例的负面影响。因此，必须确保所有近海资源开采活动在环境、社会、技术、法律和经济上是可持续的。拟议的英国-菲律宾合作研究项目“菲律宾海洋矿产资源可持续发展框架”将通过建设性地分享经验和专门知识以及近海矿产资源管理方面的创新，促进社会经济发展和个人和社区福利--包括矿产勘探、资源评估和管理、治理、决策、监管和规划、利用从勘探到监测的创新技术，以及研究环境影响评估、环境风险、缓解和监测业绩。该项目将研究、分享和发展所有海洋矿产资源活动的勘探、资源管理、管制、环境影响评估、许可和开采方面的知识、经验、技术和最佳做法。

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.