Bahrain sponsors deep-sea mining firm Impossible Metals for international permit

By Ernest Scheyder

Sept 9 (Reuters) - Bahrain has sponsored deep-sea mining firm Impossible Metals' application for a mining permit with the International Seabed Authority, becoming the first Middle Eastern country to throw its support behind the fledgling industry as part of an economic diversification push.

Privately-held Impossible Metals last Friday filed a 170-page application with the Jamaica-based ISA for a permit to mine part of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone that contains polymetallic nodules filled with manganese, copper, nickel and other building blocks of electric vehicles and electronics.

Any country can allow mining in its territorial waters. The United Nations-backed ISA was authorized by a 1980s treaty to permit and regulate mining in international waters, although it has yet to finalize rules. A company wishing to apply for a permit must have a sponsor country, as Nauru has done with The Metals Co TMC.O and Beijing has done for several Chinese companies.

Supporters of deep-sea mining say it would lessen the need for land-based mining. Detractors say more research is needed to determine how the practice could affect oceanic ecosystems. California-based Impossible Metals said it has developed a robotic device with a large claw that uses artificial intelligence to reduce environmental impacts.

Bahrain, with an economy tied to oil, has not made any financial commitments to Impossible Metals but could potentially fund a metals refinery in the future, Gunasekara said.

"What's exciting about Bahrain is that they have capital and they have energy," Gunasekara told Reuters. The Bahrain embassy in Washington and the ISA were not immediately available to comment.

The permit process will require the company to conduct a five-year environmental review process that will cost the company $70 million, Gunasekara said, adding that he hopes the ISA finalizes deep-sea mining rules within that timeframe.

Impossible Metals has also applied for a permit with U.S. officials to mine around American Samoa.