Source: PNG Loop

An online campaign to collect signatures to petition against Canadian-based Nautilus Minerals for the undersea mining operation in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has today reached 7,980 , just 20 shy of the target which is 8,000.

The controversial underwater mining will break up the top layer of the seabed at a depth of 1,500 metres to pump the ore to the surface as slurry.

The petition will be passed to the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill after 8,000 signatures are collected.

However, environmental campaigners say mining the ocean floor could prove devastating, causing lasting damage to marine life as well as to the health and livelihoods of the people of PNG.

Environmental campaigners have long argued that seabed mining will be hugely destructive to deep sea ecosystems.

Leakages, spills and pollution from chemicals used to extract ore could all cause irreversible damage to the oceans surrounding the mine site.

Despite the wide public outcry, Nautilus Minerals has finalised an agreement with the government of PNG to start deep sea mining in its coastal waters.

It will be the first time in the world that ore will be extracted from the ocean floor.