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Canadian company in negotiations with Trump to mine seabed

www.theguardian.com Canadian company in negotiations with Trump to mine seabed

Environmentalists call bid to skirt UN treaty ‘reckless’ amid fears that mining will cause irreversible loss of biodiversity

Canadian company in negotiations with Trump to mine seabed

A Canadian deep-sea mining firm has revealed it has been negotiating with the Trump administration to bypass a UN treaty and potentially gain authorisation from the US to mine in international waters.

The revelation has stunned environmentalists, who condemned the move as “reckless” and a “slap in the face for multilateralism”.

In a statement on its website on Thursday, Gerard Barron, chief executive of The Metals Company (TMC), said: “We believe we have sufficient knowledge to get started and prove we can manage environmental risks.

“What we need is a regulator with a robust regulatory regime, and who is willing to give our application a fair hearing. That’s why we’ve formally initiated the process of applying for licences and permits under the existing US seabed mining code.”

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