Patna Surat Sea Resources
Patna Surat Sea Resources (PSSR) is a seabed mining company in Patna Surat, Pramatra. A subsidiary of Glasholm Minerals Group, it recovers polymetallic nodules from the seabed of the Amarena Sea using the production vessel Green Dawn. In PSSR Block C, known as the Lumen prospect, it holds the first commercial exploitation license issued by the International Seabed Authority of Mir (ISAM).
History and Ownership
Glasholm Minerals Group (GMG), one of the oldest companies in Mikhailistan, has mined and refined metals for many generations at mines and refineries across Mir. Operations started in Mount Slopumy in the center of Mikhailistan but soon expanded into the Saden and then the Ayalamih Mountains. Together with many Ölafen engineers, GMG has advanced mining techniques in a variety of environments. As demand grew for the metals used in batteries, motors and turbines, GMG turned to the deep seabed.
PSSR Headquarters in Patna Surat PSSR Block C in the Amarena Sea
After the Great Hadian War, GMG founded PSSR in the port city of Patna Surat to seek a license in the belt around the Amarena Trench. Petrogan, the national oil company of Hin-Klia, holds 20 percent of PSSR's shares. Mikhailistan and Pramatra sponsor PSSR.
Operations
PSSR's production vessel, the Green Dawn,
is a converted drillship. A collector vehicle
gathers nodules from the seabed, and a riser,
a pipe lowered through an opening in the
middle of the hull, lifts the nodules, sedi-
ment and seawater to the vessel. On board,
the nodules are separated from the water,
sediment and fine particles, which a return
line carries back to the sea. Buoys placed
under PSSR's approved monitoring plan
track the environmental effects of its operations. The nodules, which contain manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt as well as rare earth elements, are shipped to GMG's refineries for processing.
The Green Dawn at the Lumen site
PSSR markets its nodules as
minerals for clean energy and
for rebuilding after the war.
Its public campaign, built
around the slogan "The Rock
Green Stands On," presents
the nodules as a source of the
metals that a greener Mir will
need.
PSSR markets its nodules as minerals for clean energy and for rebuilding after the war. Its public campaign, built around the slogan "The Rock Green Stands On," presents the nodules as a source of the metals that a greener Mir will need.
Under its license, PSSR pays ISAM a royalty on the market value of the metals it recovers, plus annual fees, and contributes yearly to the Restoration and Victims' Fund. ISAM holds the royalties in a special account, to be shared equitably once its Assembly adopts the criteria for sharing them.
CEO Dr. Signe Ukaliq
Dr. Signe Ukaliq
Signe Ukaliq is PSSR's chief executive and has led the company since its founding. Born in Mikhailistan, she studied geology in Popodropolis, completed a doctorate on ore deposits, and joined Glasholm Minerals Group as a field geologist in its mines. Over more than two decades she rose to head GMG's exploration division, where she directed the group's first surveys of the nodule fields of the Amarena Sea and argued that seabed minerals could supply the metals needed for clean energy.
When GMG founded PSSR, Ukaliq was appointed its chief executive. She oversaw the conversion of the Green Dawn, the license application and the start of commercial production, and she has become the public face of the company's clean-energy campaign.
Ukaliq is fifty-two years old and lives in Patna Surat with her wife. A keen car collector, she restores vintage cars in her spare time. She remains a member of GMG's board and is widely regarded as the group's leading voice on seabed mining
Proceedings
After Hurricane Yolanda, contamination spread along the coasts of the Cornuchuan Plains and inland into Lake Haida. ISAM required PSSR to suspend its operations at Block C.
PSSR is now a respondent in Case No. HCM-DIII-023 before the High Court of Mir. The company has said that it followed its approved plans and that Hurricane Yolanda was an exceptional storm.