Overview

• India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority signed the contract on September 15 in New Delhi.
• The agreement grants exclusive exploration rights over a 10,000 sq km block of the Carlsberg Ridge in the Indian Ocean for 15 years.
• Officials said the deal gives India the largest area allocated for PMS exploration under ISA contracts and bolsters its Indian Ocean presence.
• Polymetallic sulphides are hydrothermal deposits containing metals such as copper, zinc, iron, silver, gold and platinum.
• India also holds a PMS exploration pact signed on September 26, 2016 for the Central and Southwest Indian Ridges, valid through September 2031, alongside earlier ISA exploratory rights first issued in March 2002.