Awarded 70 million for seabed minerals

The Green Platform project “Seabed minerals – Accelerating the energy transition”, headed by Adepth Minerals, has been awarded NOK 70.8 million from the Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway and Siva.

The main goal with the project is to establish the basis for a complete value chain for seabed minerals with the goal of significant less environmental footprint compared to current land-based mining.

– We are very humble and grateful for the Green Platform support from the Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway and Siva, says Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt, CEO Adepth Minerals and project manager for the consortium.

– This support gives us the opportunity to accelerate the acquisition of knowledge and answer key questions related to the possibility of establishing a completely new industry that can supply critical minerals that are required in the energy transition. This project will contribute to increase our knowledge about the deep-sea resources and environment, she explains.

Read press release from Adepth Minerals (language: Norwegian)

The project is one of eleven projects being awarded altogether a total of NOK 623 million to stimulate bigger and more rapid investments from companies within green sustainable solutions and products.

Collaboration is key to succeed

The project will demonstrate world-leading technology and methodology for environmental and resource mapping and environmentally friendly production and processing.

This will contribute to the responsible utilization of our seabed mineral deposits and increase value creation for the partners involved, as well as strengthen Norway's position and export opportunities in a large and growing international market.

The project consists of the following 15 partners:

Adepth Minerals, DeepOcean, Seabed Solutions, NOV, Aanderaa, Shearwater Geoservice, AkerBP, Geoprovider, University in Bergen, NTNU, Akvaplan-niva, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, NORCE, Future Materials Catapult Centre and GCE Ocean Technology.

– We are very pleased with the assistance from GCE Ocean Technology in establishing this cross-discipline project. It is important to work close together in breaking new ground. Collaboration is key to succeed, Anette ends.

Possibility for a new industry

When the Norwegian government published the impact assessment for seabed minerals in October, they highlighted the potential for a new industry that will supply the world with critical minerals for the energy transition.

They emphasized that more exploration is needed to make sure the resources can be developed in a cost effective and environmentally sound way.

– We are very pleased with the announcement of the funding from the Green Platform Initiative, says Jon Hellevang R&D Manager in GCE Ocean Technology.

– A joint effort and close collaboration between industry, researcher and public sector across the value chain is key to close current knowledge gaps and solve innovation challenges facing this emerging industry. We really look forward to taking active part in the execution of the project and develop the industry in a responsible way, says Hellevang.

Join Tekna’s seminar Wednesday 18 January 17:00-19:00 in Bergen to learn more about seabed minerals, the opening process, the environmental aspects and industrial perspectives.