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Cases / Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · Papua New Guinea · 2018–2019

Nautilus Minerals goes bankrupt; successor TMC rises from its ashes

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Nautilus Minerals, which was running the Solwara 1 seabed mining project off Papua New Guinea, went bankrupt in 2019. The sources describe The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen, as having risen from its ashes.

What?
Nautilus Minerals, which ran the Solwara 1 seabed mining project off Papua New Guinea, went bankrupt in 2019; the sources describe The Metals Company as having risen from its ashes. Wikipedia
Where?
Off Papua New Guinea, Solwara 1 project area.
When?
Project period 2018 to 2019; bankruptcy in 2019. Wikipedia
Who?
Gained
  • The Metals Company (formerly DeepGreen) — Described in the sources as having risen from Nautilus's ashes. Wikipedia
Lost
  • Papua New Guinea government — Held a 15 per cent stake; the sources say it lost its investment. Wikipedia
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A seabed mining company went bankrupt, and a successor company then pursued seabed mining, according to the sources. Wikipedia
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Nautilus Minerals was running the Solwara 1 seabed mining project off Papua New Guinea, where the government held a 15 per cent stake, according to the sources.

The sources cite Wikipedia's entry on Nautilus Minerals for the company's bankruptcy in 2019 and for a government contribution of about 132.9 million US dollars.

Former justice minister Arnold Amet said in 2018 that the government had made a large investment and that Solwara 1 would be a burden on the economy.

The sources describe The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen, as having risen from Nautilus's ashes after Nautilus went bankrupt.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: The Metals Company's chief executive was an early investor in Nautilus Minerals.
    • None on record The sources do not describe environmental effects of the Solwara 1 project.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. Nautilus Minerals
      Wikipedia ·

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Bonds and banking

    Liquidation, insolvency, bankruptcy
    Legal processes that apply when a company cannot pay its debts; its assets are sold and claims against it may go unpaid.

    Institutions

    NOAA
    The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which leads damage assessment for coastal and marine spills.
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