The order seeks swift permits for mining nickel, cobalt and other minerals from the sea floor. Critics say it threatens both ocean life and global agreements.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to promote mining of the deep-sea floor, a controversial way to get critical minerals that are used in a wide range of electronics and other products.
“Our nation must take immediate action to accelerate the responsible development of seabed mineral resources”, the order states.
Terrestrial mines and the processing facilities for many critical minerals are dominated by China, and the Trump administration is eager to develop alternatives. Large swathes of the deep-sea floor contain nodules of the critical minerals cobalt, copper, manganese and nickel.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the U.S.”, Gerard Baron, CEO of The Metals Company, told Newsweek. “It’s an amazing way of catching up from what is a very distant second place to China when it comes to critical minerals.”
The Canada-based company is seeking U.S. permits to mine the sea floor after expressing frustration with an international process on mining. A United Nations body, the International Seabed Authority, has been debating a set of standards for deep-sea mining intended to minimize harm to marine environments.
Brazilian oceanographer Leticia Carvalho has been Secretary General of the Seabed Authority since January. At a Washington D.C. conference on critical minerals this month, Carvalho emphasized that her organization is the only body legally authorized to regulate activity beyond national boundaries and that there was clear agreement among partner nations.
“No exploitation may commence until a regulatory framework is in place”, she said.
Baron said his company has spent millions of dollars on environmental assessments of their mining but has not seen progress on mining standards from the Seabed Authority.
