India seeking to explore a cobalt offshore deposit in Sri Lanka
The Morning: India is trying to secure exploration rights for a cobalt offshore deposit that could fall under Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction, a report said.
According to AsiaNews, India has contacted the International Seabed Authority (ISA), to seek approval for exploration in the cobalt-rich Afanasy Nikitin seamount, located in the central Indian Ocean, east of the Maldives, about 1,350 kilometres off the Indian coast.
The ISA is an intergovernmental body established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The report said that New Delhi is driven by competition with Beijing, but Colombo also wants to extract minerals that are crucial for modern technologies, including for the energy transition.
Cobalt is used in batteries in laptops, smartphones, and electric vehicles, also in jet engines and gas turbines.
Usually, a country’s sovereignty extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from its shoreline, an area that is called the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the extent which that relevant country can economically exploit, although ships from other countries can sail through, unimpeded.
In 2009, Sri Lanka sought to expand its control beyond 200 nautical miles by applying to the Commission on Continental Shelf Limits (CLCS), which has not yet responded to Sri Lanka’s request.
If accepted, the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount would fall within Sri Lanka’s nautical boundaries. The underwater structure consists of 150 blocks spread over 3,000 square kilometres.
In the past, the CLCS accepted several requests to expand the boundaries of the continental shelf, by countries such as Australia, Norway, and Pakistan, which have rights to maritime territories that stretch beyond 200 nautical miles from the shoreline.
“India’s move is not aimed at exploration immediately; instead, it is a desire to establish a foothold in the region to deter any Chinese presence,” senior maritime law experts Navin Seneviratne and Mahesh Algama, told AsiaNews.
“At present, China, Germany, and South Korea have contracts for deep-sea exploration in different parts of the Indian Ocean.” By contrast, “India’s deep-sea mining initiatives are at a nascent stage, although, in recent years, the country has demonstrated its ambition in this endeavour.”
According to data by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), China currently controls 70 percent of the world’s cobalt and 60 percent of its lithium and manganese, as well as other critical minerals.
India has set 2070 as the deadline to reach net zero emissions. Such minerals would be used primarily in the clean energy industry.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s mineral exploration is a sector that is yet to be tapped of its full potential. Although the many mineral deposits being explored and mined with the products being utilized in the local manufacturing sector while another component being exported as raw materials, there’s yet a considerable component of minerals that are yet to be explored to be mined. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country, mineral exploration provides a lucrative business/investment opportunity. The growth and business potential in Sri Lanka’s mineral sector is evident by the interest shown by foreign countries in exploring certain minerals in the country. Local businesses engaged in the sector have also recorded growth and profits. All these have resulted in the government on Sri Lanka introducing incentive schemes for businesses engaged in the mineral sector. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore the growing opportunities in Sri Lanka’s minerals sector.