Willem Marks

It kind of depends, right? So you've got people who have an obligation to regulate an industry like this, whether that's the environmental agency or the mining regulator, the fisheries authority. Really, none of them claimed to know anything about it or were willing to talk to me. And then you have people like Alan Bird and another senior governor I spoke to.

And in Papua New Guinea, if you're the governor of a province, you're also a member of the country's parliament, at which point you're going to obviously have oversight into particularly controversial industries like this one. And the fact that these people who for years have publicly opposed the idea of deep sea mining are

And in Papua New Guinea, if you're the governor of a province, you're also a member of the country's parliament, at which point you're going to obviously have oversight into particularly controversial industries like this one. And the fact that these people who for years have publicly opposed the idea of deep sea mining are

And in Papua New Guinea, if you're the governor of a province, you're also a member of the country's parliament, at which point you're going to obviously have oversight into particularly controversial industries like this one. And the fact that these people who for years have publicly opposed the idea of deep sea mining are

The idea that they say, well, they didn't know about it is in a sense not surprising. And the shock when I spoke to some of them about this was really very genuine from where I stood.

The idea that they say, well, they didn't know about it is in a sense not surprising. And the shock when I spoke to some of them about this was really very genuine from where I stood.

The idea that they say, well, they didn't know about it is in a sense not surprising. And the shock when I spoke to some of them about this was really very genuine from where I stood.

Well, I guess what was really striking was, you know, you get off this vessel on this island in the middle of this ocean and And you've got these officials saying, oh, we didn't know it was happening. You've got senior members of the government in some cases, senior governors of other islands who've been very engaged in the subject saying, we didn't know about it.

Well, I guess what was really striking was, you know, you get off this vessel on this island in the middle of this ocean and And you've got these officials saying, oh, we didn't know it was happening. You've got senior members of the government in some cases, senior governors of other islands who've been very engaged in the subject saying, we didn't know about it.

Well, I guess what was really striking was, you know, you get off this vessel on this island in the middle of this ocean and And you've got these officials saying, oh, we didn't know it was happening. You've got senior members of the government in some cases, senior governors of other islands who've been very engaged in the subject saying, we didn't know about it.

And you know, this in turn was pretty surprising to me because it showed that the company involved in this effort, you know, it may have been meeting with government officials, maybe the local governor, maybe the prime minister, but it doesn't seem to have really met with local people.

And you know, this in turn was pretty surprising to me because it showed that the company involved in this effort, you know, it may have been meeting with government officials, maybe the local governor, maybe the prime minister, but it doesn't seem to have really met with local people.

And you know, this in turn was pretty surprising to me because it showed that the company involved in this effort, you know, it may have been meeting with government officials, maybe the local governor, maybe the prime minister, but it doesn't seem to have really met with local people.

the communities that maybe have the most to lose in terms of their livelihoods, particularly around fishing, being threatened, people that really rely on fishing just off a few yards from where they live on the coastline, the idea that their fish might be impacted by the industry was really surprising. You've got pretty powerful people involved in this particular effort as well.

the communities that maybe have the most to lose in terms of their livelihoods, particularly around fishing, being threatened, people that really rely on fishing just off a few yards from where they live on the coastline, the idea that their fish might be impacted by the industry was really surprising. You've got pretty powerful people involved in this particular effort as well.

the communities that maybe have the most to lose in terms of their livelihoods, particularly around fishing, being threatened, people that really rely on fishing just off a few yards from where they live on the coastline, the idea that their fish might be impacted by the industry was really surprising. You've got pretty powerful people involved in this particular effort as well.

There's a Russian oligarch who's helped to finance this company, He currently is under EU and US sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You've got another very powerful and wealthy mining magnate from a country called Oman in the Arabian Gulf.

There's a Russian oligarch who's helped to finance this company, He currently is under EU and US sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You've got another very powerful and wealthy mining magnate from a country called Oman in the Arabian Gulf.

There's a Russian oligarch who's helped to finance this company, He currently is under EU and US sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You've got another very powerful and wealthy mining magnate from a country called Oman in the Arabian Gulf.

And there was this really poignant moment where this man, Jonathan Massillon, the anti-mining activist, he was really upset that this vessel was back in those nearby waters, he told me. It's essentially, he was saying, local people who will be the ones that suffer the consequences over the long term.