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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.

Table of the subsea mineral resource estimates in the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone

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:

Heatmap of estimated mineral resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Cook Islands

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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.

Map of subsea mineral licenses granted to companies in the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone

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Further data is available at the Cook Islands EEZ data page.

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Written by Phillip Gales

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. Originally from the UK, he now lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife and young family.

Phillip holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an MEng in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, specialising in Machine Intelligence.

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