During the eighth session, to better inform members of the Authority, the Secretariat also organized a seminar consisting of presentations by leading scientific and technical experts on the status, characteristics and prospects for deep sea polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich crusts as well as the marine environment where these minerals are located.15 The Council then held informal meetings on 12, 14 and 15 August 2002 to discuss further the issues raised in the Secretariat's paper in the light of the seminar and in the light of the parallel consideration of the matter by the Legal and Technical Commission.
El Consejo celebró seguidamente reuniones oficiosas los días 12, 14 y 15 de agosto de 2002 para seguir examinando las cuestiones planteadas en el documento de la Secretaría habida cuenta del seminario así como del examen que había realizado paralelamente la Comisión Jurídica y Técnica.