Deep Sea Mining Act 1981

[F1 17 Interpretation U.K.

In this Act—

• “the Agreement” means the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of December 1982;

• “ancillary operations”, in relation to any licensed operations, means any activity carried on by or on behalf of the licensee which is ancillary to the licensed operations (including the processing and transportation of any substances recovered);

• “the Authority” has the meaning given by section 2;

• “the Convention” means the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea;

• “corresponding contract” has the meaning given by section 2;

• “deep sea bed” has the meaning given by section 1;

• “deep sea bed mining operations” means any exploration or exploitation of the mineral resources of the deep sea bed;

• “exploitation” means commercial exploitation;

• “exploitation licence” has the meaning given by section 2;

• “exploration”, in relation to the mineral resources of any area of the deep sea bed, means the investigation of that area of the deep sea bed for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the mineral resources of that area of the deep sea bed can be commercially exploited;

• “exploration licence” has the meaning given by section 2;

• “granted by the Authority”, in relation to a contract, has the meaning given by section 2;

• “inspector” means a person appointed as inspector under section 11;

• “licensed area” in relation to a licence, means the area of the deep sea bed specified in the licence;

• “licensed mineral resource” in relation to a licence, means the description of mineral resource specified in the licence;

• “licensed operations” means any activities which the licensee may carry on by virtue of their licence;

• “licensee” means the holder of an exploration or exploitation licence;

• “mineral resource” has the meaning given by section 1;

• “plan of work” has the meaning given by section 2;

• “prescribed” (except where used in relation to rules of court) means prescribed by regulations under section 12;

• “prospecting” in relation to the mineral resources of any area of the deep sea bed, means searching for mineral resources in that area of the deep sea bed and may include estimating the composition, size, distribution and economic values of such mineral resources;

• “ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation;

• “the Tribunal” means the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 16, 17 substituted (14.7.2014) by Deep Sea Mining Act 2014 (c. 15), s. 2(3), Sch. para. 14