2016 SoE Marine Chapter - Pressures - Marine mining

Brief description

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "Pressures on the marine environment associated with marine mining". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESSURE
A wide variety of mineral resources exist within Australia’s maritime jurisdiction (see Table 1 in attached Expert Assessment). Mining of those resources however, remains an 'emerging industry'.

DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT
Published papers and reports. Assessment has been completed by literature review.

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2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details]

• 2016 •
Assessment grade: Low impact
Assessment trend: Unclear
Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus
Confidence trend: Evidence and consensus too low to make an assessment
Comparability: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the 2011 assessment
• 2011 •
Assessment grade: Very good
Assessment trend: Stable
Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus
Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus

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CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT
Climate and system variability as a pressure on the marine environment was not assessed in 2011.

Lineage

Statement: QUALITY OF DATA USED IN THE ASSESSMENT
Publications have been peer-reviewed.

Notes

Purpose
Marine mining is limited in Australian waters. It is not clear how the 2011 assessment was determined given the lack of information on impacts.