Fact box 6.5 - Managing seabed minerals

The Act relating to mineral activity on the continental shelf (the Seabed Minerals Act) came into force on 1 July 2019 to facilitate exploration for and exploitation of accumulations on the NCS.

Responsibility for seabed minerals has been assigned to the MPE, with the NPD as the regulatory agency supporting the ministry’s work.

The NPD is responsible for national administration of all sub-surface data acquired from the NCS, and for mapping seabed mineral accumulations there.

This concerns two types of deposit – sulphide ores and manganese crusts.