Study title

These data document a series of video interviews relating to the politics of deep sea mining in PNG and Australia. Recorded between 2016-2018, they focus on the various communities most proximate to the world's first proposed commercial deep sea mining site in Papua New Guinea (Solwara 1 held by Nautilus Minerals). Semi structured interviews were used and a topic guide is attached in the files along with the consent form used.Despite the fact that the deep-sea is by degrees, imperceptible and a boundary to human knowledge, the race to mine it is on. This project will analyse the emergent political challenges of sustainable deep-sea mining taking into account conflicting social interests, the ways in which the deep sea bed is sensed and imagined, and the physical properties of the deep ocean itself. Increasing global demand for economically and strategically important resources such as gold, copper, rare-earth metals and phosphates, coupled with advances in mining technology, has meant that the deep-sea has emerged for the first time as a key site of resource extraction. The industry, which already explores over 1 million sq.km of deep-sea bed, is expected to be worth £40 billion over the next 30 years to the UK alone. To this end, debates have opened up which have focused on the economic and environmental impacts of the deep-sea mining (DSM) industry. Thus the deep sea is increasingly considered in terms of profitability and safety rather than in terms of ownership, ethics and competing politics. In failing to sufficiently take into account the deep sea's political dimensions, current research misses out in explaining how DSM governance comes into being. How is deep-sea mining imagined, visualised and mapped by different stakeholders? Can DSM be part of international development strategies in the global South? What role do the resources, properties and dynamics of the deep-sea play in political issue formation? By addressing these questions through a...