Cook Islands EEZ Resource Estimate
There are an estimated global total of 6,700 (wet) Mt (i.e. 6.7 trillion tonnes) of polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone. These average around 14.4 (wet) kg/m² - far exceeding the average nodule density of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone - and representing what is likely to be a highly profitable basin for mining polymetallic nodules.
Based purely upon the estimated density of polymetallic nodules on the seabed, it can be seen that the most promising license blocks in the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone lie in a diagonal corridor running Southwest up to Northeast between the islands of Aitutaki and Palmerston:
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The lower diagonal part of this high-density area coincides with license blocks licensed to CIC Limited. The upper area coincides with license blocks licensed to Moana Minerals and Cobalt Seabed Resources.
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Further data is available at the Cook Islands EEZ data page.
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Phillip Gales is a serial entrepreneur who has built tech companies in various heavy industries including Oil & Gas, Construction, Real Estate and Supply Chain Logistics.
Phillip holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an MEng in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, specialising in Machine Intelligence.