What marine environmental impact could the extraction of manganese nodules in the Bothnian Bay have? This is the question that Sweco, Europe’s leading engineering consultancy, was tasked with answering.
The area studied covers 83 square kilometers and is located approximately 70 kilometers southeast of Skellefteå, within Sweden’s exclusive economic zone. The water depth ranges from 60 to 130 meters.
Now, Sweco’s report is complete, and it confirms, among other things:
• The presence of organic pollutants, substances that could be harmful to the environment and health, was generally low.
• The fauna found indicates relatively homogeneous and species-poor habitats with species commonly found in coastal and lake areas.
• No red-listed or endangered species were found.
• The seabed consists of common biotopes with little ecological function or only basic ecological function.
For us at Scandinavian Ocean Minerals, the results are completely in line with our previous studies and forecasts. This also applies to the report’s remark that “extraction of nodules is assessed to potentially pose a risk of turbidity and spreading of sediment pollutants (primarily metals), which need further investigation.” Minimizing the risk of this is something we have been working on for several years and will continue to do as planned.
The results of the natural value survey are a valuable contribution to the Environmental Impact Assessment that we are currently working on. This will, in turn, be a cornerstone of our application for extraction permits, which is planned to be submitted to the government later this year.
Scandinavian Ocean Minerals was established in 2020 to meet the industry’s need for the green transition. Since then, the search for critical and strategic metals and minerals has increased, raising the risk of geopolitical conflicts. This has led the EU to intensify efforts to reduce dependency on imports.
At Scandinavian Ocean Minerals, we can and want to contribute to securing self-sufficiency in raw materials. The discovery of 20 million tons of mineral-rich manganese nodules in the Bothnian Bay, combined with our technology and expertise, holds great potential. We could supply the EU with as much as ten to fifteen percent of its import dependency for materials such as manganese alloys.
