Norway Halts Plans To Conduct Deep-Sea Mining

Norway will not proceed with plans to conduct deep-sea mining, the SV party which supports the minority centre-left government said on Sunday, after it concluded negotiations over next year's budget with the coalition.

"We are stopping plans to open mining on the sea bed," Kirsti Bergstoe, leader of the green leftwing SV party, told reporters.

Until now, Norway, whose vast hydrocarbon reserves made it one of the world's wealthiest countries, had taken a leading role in the global race to mine the ocean floor for metals that are in high demand as nations transition away from fossil fuels.

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