The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is the central geoscientific authority providing advice to the German Federal Government in all geo-relevant questions. It advises the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) on deep-sea mining and represents Germany at the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The BGR carries out exploration research for manganese nodules in the equatorial NE Pacific, after signing a 15 years exploration contract with the ISA in July 2006. Furthermore, an application for the exploration seafloor massive sulfides in the Indian Ocean is currently pending. Apart from participating in the BLUE MINING project the BGR is also a partner in the EU project MIDAS dealing with environmental issues concerning deep-sea mining.
Country: Germany
Agreement no. 604500.