The ex-PM, the treasure hunters and the deep sea

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has taken a new role at a deep-sea mining fund at the same time the Australian government is poised to make a landmark decision on the controversial new mining frontier.

Morrison is listed as a strategic adviser at the newly created Seafloor Minerals Fund (SMF), alongside former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Then-PM Scott Morrison was toasted by then-vice president Mike Pence, centre, and then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo, right, in Washington in 2019.Credit: AP/Alex Brandon

Four of the fund’s most senior people, including Morrison and Pompeo, are behind venture capital firm DYNE, which says its fund was set up to support the strategic goals of AUKUS, the $368 billion defence pact between Australia, the US and UK announced by the Morrison government in 2021.

DYNE has also invested millions of dollars in experimental deep-sea mining projects in the Pacific. Its involvement fuels concerns from groups like Greenpeace, already worried about the environmental impact of deep-sea mining, that national security arguments will be used to influence policymakers in Australia and around the world as they decide on rules for the industry.

The revelation of Morrison’s additional role at SMF and DYNE’s direct investment in the sector comes amid fierce debate about the wider merits of deep-sea mining and as China ramps up its own prospecting in the deep.

The seafloor is estimated to hold trillions of dollars in rare metals needed in everything from renewable energy batteries to weapons. Prospectors lobbying governments to open the deep sea to mining, such as Australian-led firm The Metals Company (TMC), argue such high-yield metals could both accelerate the clean energy transition and shore up Western supply chains. On land, reserves are dominated by China, Russia and Africa, and mining often tears through rainforest.

International environmental lawyer Duncan Currie criticised Morrison’s roles, saying it was a bad look for a former prime minister to become involved in an industry where some players were operating under “the guise of national security”, even as other countries argue for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining until more is understood about the risks.

Prominent scientists warn that mining the little-understood deep sea could affect everything from fish stocks to the carbon cycle.

The SMF, set up this year, claims critical metals on the seafloor “can be extracted with minimal environmental impact, from Allied jurisdictions”, and that it will serve as the capital partner the new industry needs, “committed to catalysing and de-risking the full supply chain.”

Since AUKUS, DYNE has billed itself as investing in maritime tech, with dual military and civilian use.

But investor briefings and government documents show DYNE has also invested in deep-sea mining – most notably a project led by the US treasure-hunting firm turned mining start-up Odyssey, which is suing Mexico for billions over a failed bid to mine in its waters.

Within days of the AUKUS announcement in 2021, DYNE invested more than $5 million in plans to mine the deep seas around the Cook Islands, and committed to inject another $57 million now that an Odyssey-led consortium has been awarded an exploration licence by the island nation.

At SMF, managing partner and former oil and maritime executive Graham Talbot, who also works at DYNE, said the new fund had not invested any capital in the sector yet, continuing “to perform detailed due diligence on opportunities”.

It was not “associated with Dyne Asset Management (although we do have common advisers)“, including Morrison, he said, but declined to answer further questions.

Gerard Barron, chairman and CEO of The Metals Company.Credit: Getty

TMC’s Australian chief executive Gerard Barron said the “calibre” of people such as Morrison involved in the SMF was a sign of its prospects.

“Say what you like about ScoMo – [it] shows the inevitability of this industry,” he said.

Deep-sea mining regulations are still being thrashed out by governments, and the issue is dividing the Pacific, where waters are rich in ancient potato-sized polymetallic nodules, as well as crusts of cobalt on undersea mountains, and spires of copper and gold on hydrothermal vents.

Some nations see it as a way to lift their islands out of poverty, while others worry about the impact on ecosystems they rely on.

The federal Labor Party hardened its stance on deep-sea mining at its last national conference, as members voted to back the 25 countries pushing for a moratorium. But the Albanese government has yet to announce its position.

Lawyer Duncan Currie said Australia would need to make a call, even if Pacific nations were divided, and criticised Morrison’s involvement in the industry.

“It’s a bad look for a former prime minister to be involved … seen to be chasing the dollar under the guise of national security, when more countries are turning to a moratorium.”

Currie warned kick-starting the West’s undersea metals race would be unlikely to put off Chinese interest. “More likely it’ll escalate into an arms race,” he said.

Greenpeace activists confronted and boarded TMC’s Hidden Gem mining vessel during a test voyage in late 2023.Credit: Martin Katz/Greenpeace

Last year, an investigation by this masthead revealed that Australians are behind the key firms pushing to open the deep sea to mining, via private deals with Pacific islands that will see the lion’s share of profit go to companies, not countries. International law says the metals should be used “for the benefit of mankind”, particularly developing nations.

UN regulator the International Seabed Authority (ISA) said it expects countries to vote through a new code allowing mining in deep international waters next year.

But TMC’s partner nation Nauru has triggered an obscure loophole, meaning ISA bureaucrats can now approve mining before these rules are agreed upon. TMC will submit its application in the coming months, once the ISA meets in July.

A miner request.Credit: Matt Golding

An Australian government spokeswoman said mining “should not commence” before the formal code – “including strong environmental protections” – has been endorsed by countries, but she did not answer questions on a moratorium.

US Congress this month flagged it will invest in processing deep-sea metals locally to outpace China’s interests in the undersea minerals, following lobbying from TMC and others.

National security has always been a key “demand driver” in the pitch for deep-sea mining, Barron said, but when supply chains broke down during COVID-19, the world woke up to China’s stranglehold on metal markets.

“And [on the climate change question] we don’t have another 10 years to argue about where to get these battery metals. Rome is burning.”

Morrison has been travelling across the US for business meetings and to promote his new book.

Last week, he met former president Donald Trump, who Morrison said had given his “warm support” for the AUKUS submarine deal, following speculation over whether Trump would honour the pact if re-elected.

This masthead was unable to contact Morrison by phone, and he did not respond to requests for comment via email.

DYNE also did not answer questions. A 2023 investor briefing on the Cook Islands deep-sea project, prepared with DYNE, estimated it would yield billions of dollars in revenue by 2028.

But a representative for the consortium said the briefing was out of date and it was removed online following questions from this masthead.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson called for more transparency around funding arrangements in deep-sea ventures and said the government should push for a moratorium until environmental safeguards are in place.

Asked about Morrison’s new role and the seafloor fund, he said: “Australians have every right to be suspicious their former prime minister is now [advising] a company focused on bankrolling deep-sea mining projects associated with AUKUS.

“Maintaining national security does not give carte blanche to environmental destruction.”

David Ritter of Greenpeace said the same metals needed for batteries are “highly sought after by the weapons industry”, and warned the clean energy transition could be used to greenwash weapons manufacturing as “the cowboy industry” of deep-sea mining forged ties with defence companies and AUKUS investment firms.

The industry remains speculative as it waits on agreement from regulators, and TMC has been forced to push back its expected commercial start date to 2026.

Barron said internal shareholders would continue to fund it, with a slim staff, if delays dragged on. But TMC had spent millions of dollars on research already.

An SEC investigation into TMC, triggered by a short seller report in 2021, has recently been closed, with no finding of wrongdoing.

“We’re confident the impact will be low, a lot lower than mining on land,” Barron said. “We know the world is watching.”

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