Home > JOGMEC's Activities > Financial Assistance (Metals) > Equity Capital for Overseas Exploration > Representative Example : Offshore Manganese Nodule Exploration Southeast of Hawaii
Offshore Manganese Nodule Exploration Southeast of Hawaii
IN 1982, JOGMEC formed a wholly owned exploration corporation, Deep Ocean Resources Development Co., Ltd. (DORD), jointly with Japanese private-sector companies. DORD's deep-sea exploration activities are based on Part 11 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which took effect in November 1994. Subsequently, UNCLOS served as the basis for the formation of the International Seabed Authority in 1994 and for deep-sea mining regulations determined in 2000. DORD has been conducting surveys in an area it selected since December 1987, and concluded a deep-sea exploration contract with the International Seabed Authority in June 2001.
Since 2001, JOGMEC has been conducting exploration based on this contract, although we had completed reconnaissance of the entire mine site by 1997. While we have postponed actual development at the mine site, we have collated and analyzed existing data and used it to establish a future development plan.
Offshore manganese mine site southeast of Hawaii
