One sided Govt view sways Cook Islands Opposition - Evans rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Cook Islanders are being told that any decision to mine billions of tonnes of rare earth minerals is still years away.
The sea floor surrounding the northern Cooks is seen as a potential resource to help supply the electric battery industry.
Cook Island Prime Minister Mark Brown led the mission to the Pa Enua outer islands along with Seabed Mineral Authority (SBM) and Marae Moana representation.
The delegation aimed to persuade people living on Palmerston, Nassau and Pukapuka atolls of the value of the polymetallic nodules on their seabed floors.
Some estimates put volumes at 12 billion tonnes.
Brown told locals that licensed exploration under way right now was just about data collection.
I have followed the ongoing tug of war between opposing sides of the deep-sea mining debate and was waiting for someone to offer the third side of the story. Then I came across the first response from one of the small island nations when the newly elected prime minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown, defended his country’s decision to proceed with the early stage exploration of manganese nodules.