Five kilometres deep on the Cook Islands seafloor, potato-shaped rocks pave the bottom loaded with expensive minerals like cobalt, copper, manganese and nickel.
Odyssey’s research vessel used for mineral exploration work in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand Photo: Adam Stemm
They're called polymetallic nodules and three weeks ago the Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown referred to them as "golden apples".
Brown made the comment during an official signing ceremony where three companies were awarded a seabed minerals exploration licence.
The licence allows the companies to see if mining is a viable option which includes reviewing the environmental risks associated with the task.
Brown, who is also the Minister for the Seabed Minerals Authority, compares the Cook Islands situation to Norway - a country that enjoys some of the highest standards of living in the world, made possible through abundant natural resources.
Brown sees the expensive minerals bringing infrastructure improvements to airports, ports and schools.
The Pa Enua (outer islands) will have drinking water security - something that's always been a challenge but has been made worse through climate change.
High-speed internet will be available throughout the entire nation and Cook Islanders living overseas could even be beneficiaries of education scholarships in whatever fields or universities they choose.
A more short-term benefit would be retaining some of the Cook Islands population who are leaving for New Zealand's far more attractive wages.
(L-R) George George Williamson, Bishop Tutai Pere, Maru Mariri, Hon.Mark Brown, Makiroa Mitchell, Makiuti Tongia and Sam Napa. Photo: Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority
"Today our people are leaving to pick apples in New Zealand, tomorrow, we will have our own apples to pick, and they sit on the floor of our ocean," Brown said at the ceremony which was followed by a round of applause.
Three companies given the licence are Cook Islands Colbalt (CIC) Limited, Moana Minerals Limited and Cook Islands Investment Company (CIIC) Seabed Resources Limited which is co-owned by the Cook Islands Government.
These companies are based around the world and share joint ownership with other mining companies. All companies have budgeted between $55.4 million to $71.7 million to conduct the exploration process over the next five years.
Despite the riches the "golden apples" are promising, many nations and environmental groups like Te Ipukarea Society, a non-government organisation in the Cook Islands, has called for a 10-year-moratorium on seabed mining, something the Cook Islands Government with support from the opposition party have vocally opposed.
Even companies like BMW, Renault and Microsoft - companies who would be beneficiaries of the mining have supported a moratorium.
Tech giant, Microsoft said in a report that due to the early nature of deep-sea mining the company will wait "until the proper research and scientific studies have been completed" until using any of the minerals.
Goldman Environmental Prize winner and marine conservationist, Jacqueline Evans says seabed mining has a direct impact on the biodiversity that lives on and around the nodules. The disposal of sediment from the ship will also impact marine life, she says.
Polymetallic nodules Pacific ocean Photo: Velizar Gordeev. All rights reserved.
Another concern of Evans and the technical director at Te Ipukarea Society, Kelvin Passfield, is the companies could be reluctant to leave if they're granted a mining licence.
Passfield says, "our concern is they're not expecting to spend that money and say, 'oh it looks like the environmental impacts are not going to be good, so we're going to pack our bags and leave'."
"We need to be sure that does happen and if the impacts are going to be too great that they will pack their bags and leave, and the Cook Islands is not going to be put under any pressure to award them a licence.
"These companies, they're in the business of making money, they're in the business of pouring millions of dollars of investors' money into the seafloor.
"Their expectation is they're going to get an exploitation (mining) licence."
The Cook Islands have rules in place in the exploration legislation that protect the companies.
Photo: Cook Islands New
Evans says, "the legislation doesn't allow us to deny a mining licence for whatever reason - there are pre-stated reasons for denying a licence. This favours the mining companies more than it favours ourselves."
The concerns of being sued are exacerbated by ongoing litigation between Odyssey Marine Exploration, which is a joint owner of CIC - one of the Cook Islands companies with an exploration licence - and the Mexican Government.
Odyssey is seeking more than $US2.3 billion from Mexico after being denied a mining licence by the Mexican government.
Dr Catherine Coumans, the Asia-Pacific programme coordinator for Canadian non-profit organisation MiningWatch Canada, has experience supporting governments fighting costly, years-long legal battles against mining corporations.
Coumans says the Mexican government denied the licence on the grounds that the proposed mining would endanger turtles, whales and fishing grounds. It was also based on a lack of public consultation.
Mining for copper under the sea Photo: Nautilus Minerals
However, the president and chief operating officer of Odyssey, John Longley says his company was already granted a 50-year mining license for extracting phosphate sands in Mexico and the company found there would be "minimal environmental impact backed by extensive research".
"The government did not apply fair and equitable treatment to the evaluation of the project and environmental application, illegally denying the license," Longley says.
Odyssey claims Mexico is depriving citizens in the United States of certain rights, going against the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada.
Before the exploration licences were awarded the licencing process was open to public feedback. Cook Islands Seabed Minerals is the Cook Islands regulator for seabed minerals, Alex Herman the commissioner, says a key issue brought up in the submissions was around environmental data collection.
The environmental impact assessment of the potential harms of mining the minerals rests with the applicant, she says. Which means companies will pay for their own assessment.
However, she says the independent review is normally part of the process and will also be commissioned by the companies.
The main environmental case for deep-sea mining is that rare metals are needed if the world is to ever transition away from fossil fuels.
Adam Stemm (left), chief operating officer of CIC, Greg Stemm, chairman and founder of CIC and Laurie Stemm, founder of Cook Islands Traditional Arts Trust. Photo: Adam Stemm
Greg Stemm, chief executive officer of CIC says "currently there is insufficient metal in the system to meet the exponentially increasing demand for metals to enable the energy transition, until we reach a critical mass, which may not be for 25-50 years from now, then new raw materials must be sourced."
Stemm says if the rare earth metals could be extracted in the Cook Islands it could "save rainforests and other environmentally sensitive areas on land".
"If there is any possibility that it can be done with significantly less environmental impact than on land, it seems ridiculous to suggest that we should not at least be conducting research to determine the viability of ocean minerals."