Listen
Last month, Dateline Pacific heard from a Canada-based seabed mining company which has explorations contracts with Nauru, Tonga and Kiribati.
DeepGreen Metals is touting mining in the farthest depths of the Pacific as a unique economic opportunity, and a way to assist the fight against climate change.
But as Johnny Blades reports, civil society groups have responded to the company's claims and warn that the risk is just too great.
Recovered nodules Photo: Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority