Norway to award Arctic seabed mining blocks in 2025

Norway announced on Wednesday the opening of vast areas in the Arctic for its first seabed mineral licensing round. 

The government proposed 386 offshore blocks comprising about 38% of the 280,000 sq. km approved by the parliament for exploration earlier this year. The concept is open for public consultation. 

The country plans to grant exploration permits in the first half of 2025.

“The world needs minerals for the green transition, and the government wants to explore if it is possible to extract seabed minerals sustainably from the Norwegian continental shelf,” Terje Aasland, Norway’s minister of energy, said in a release. “Environmental considerations are taken into account in all stages of the activities.”

At least two companies have applied for licenses already as Oslo emphasizes the importance of deep-sea mining the Arctic to increase Europe’s supply of essential rare earth minerals and battery metals such as copper, nickel and manganese.

Mining is not expected to start before 2030.

Environmentalists, however, are challenging the plans in court.

Greenpeace said on Wednesday the proposed blocks constituted a “shockingly large” area given previous warnings from scientists regarding the potential impact on fragile ecosystems.

The European Parliament GreenDeal chief Maros Sefcovic said in March that the European Union would monitor the process. Norway is not a member of the bloc.