By Jacquelyn Cheok
KEPPEL Corporation's majority owned company Ocean Mineral Singapore
(OMS) has bagged a 15-year contract for seabed exploration within the
Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Pacific Ocean with the
International Seabed Authority (ISA).
OMS, sponsored by the Singapore government, is the first Singaporean
company to be awarded an exploration contract for polymetallic nodules,
said the company in a statement on Tuesday.
This follows the approval of OMS' application for the exploration licence for polymetallic nodules by the ISA on July 21, 2014.
Said OMS director Ong Ye Kung: "We are encouraged by reaching another
milestone in our journey to find a more sustainable way of supporting
the world's need for metal resources. In addition, we look forward to
working closely with the ISA and other stakeholders to develop an
environmentally responsible and commercially viable solution."
Polymetallic nodules - which contain copper, nickel, cobalt and
manganese, and rare earth minerals - have the potential of supplying
these key metals to meet growing global demand in applications such as
construction, aerospace and alternative energy, said OMS.
Supported by the Keppel-NUS Corporate Laboratory, OMS will be
conducting environmental studies and surveys for deposits of
polymetallic nodules within the approved area of 58,000 sq km, which is
approximately 80 times the size of Singapore, added the company.