Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. ("NORI") is a Nauruan company engaged in the exploration and sustainable development of seafloor mineral resources.

In 2011 NORI was granted a contract to explore for seafloor polymetallic nodules by the International Seabed Authority ("ISA").

Speaking at the 21st Meeting of the States Parties to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in New York, Mr. Nii A. Odunton, the Secretary-General of the ISA said this renewed commercial interest in deep seabed mining as an alternative source for the minerals needed to fuel economic development in many parts of the world is encouraging both for the Authority and member States, who will be the ultimate beneficiaries from seabed mining.

Peter Jacob, First Secretary, Nauru High Commission, presenting at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Upon being granted the licence, Nauru's former Minister for Commerce, Industry and Environment, Dominic Tabuna, said "Nauruans, like most other Pacific Island people, have always relied on the ocean for our livelihood. With limited land-based resources, we must look at innovative ways that the ocean can continue to sustain our people and expand our economies, such as by accessing deep-sea minerals."

NORI is wholly owned by two Nauruan Foundations whose purpose is to advance education, training, health and environmental rehabilitation in Nauru. NORI's deep sea project therefore represents a valuable opportunity for Nauru to advance its social and economic development to ensure Nauru's long term sustainability.

Former Minister Tabuna explained, "Given Nauru's history with mining, evolving to deep-sea mining seems a natural progression. But we will take the experience of the environmental impacts of land-based mining, along with our ancestors understanding of the need to sustainably harvest our ocean's resources, to ensure that deep-sea mining will be an environmentally better alternative."

The Republic of Nauru had previously played an integral role in developing the international legal framework governing activities in the international seabed area by submitting a proposal to the ISA to request an advisory opinion from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ("ITLOS") on important aspects pertaining to deep sea mineral exploration. As the first ever advisory opinion delivered by the Seabed Disputes Chamber of ITLOS it represented a significant and positive step in international legal development.

Former Minister Tabuna concluded by saying, "The granting of NORI's exploration licence is a further important development in this process and is a positive reflection on the international community's ability to not only conceive Conventions with lofty principles, but through the commendable work of the ISA, implement and achieve outcomes that promote the interests of mankind as a whole and bring tangible benefits to the lives of people in Developing States."