President Trump Signs Executive Order to Boost Deep-Sea Mining Industry
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at enhancing the deep-sea mining sector, marking a significant move to bolster U.S. access to critical minerals like nickel, copper, and others that are essential for various industries.
The order, signed in private by Trump, aims to kickstart mining activities in both U.S. and international waters as part of an effort to counterbalance China’s dominant control over the critical minerals sector.
Regions of the Pacific Ocean and other areas are believed to contain substantial deposits of polymetallic nodules, which are rock formations shaped like potatoes and rich in minerals crucial for electric vehicles and electronics production.
It is estimated that there are over 1 billion metric tons of these nodules in U.S. waters, containing manganese, nickel, copper, and other vital minerals, according to a government official.
Extracting these minerals could potentially boost the U.S. GDP by $300 billion over the next decade and create around 100,000 jobs, the official added.
“The United States has a fundamental national security and economic interest in maintaining leadership in deep-sea science, technology, and seabed mineral resources,” Trump stated in the order.
The executive order instructs the administration to expedite mining permits under the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resource Act of 1980 and establish a streamlined process for issuing permits along the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.
Additionally, the order calls for the prompt review of seabed mining permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction, a move that could potentially lead to disagreements with the international community.
While supporters of deep-sea mining believe it could reduce the need for large land-based mining operations, environmental groups are strongly against it, warning of irreversible biodiversity loss from industrial operations on the ocean floor.
Impossible Metals, a California-based company, has requested the administration to initiate a commercial auction for access to deposits of critical minerals off the coast of American Samoa.
Shares of The Metals Company, a prominent deep-sea mining firm, surged by approximately 40% following the news of the executive order, reaching a 52-week high of $3.39 per share.
Other companies eyeing deep-sea mining include Russia’s JSC Yuzhmorgeologiya, Blue Minerals Jamaica, China Minmetals, and Kiribati’s Marawa Research and Exploration.
Trump’s order underscores the need to secure access to critical minerals amid dwindling supplies from China, leading to increased pressure on Washington to support domestic mining efforts.
Last week, the Trump administration expedited permitting for 10 mining projects in the U.S. and implemented a quicker approval process for mining ventures on federal lands, including approving one of the country’s largest copper mines.
The term “rare earths” in the order broadly refers to critical minerals and does not imply that the nodules contain rare earth elements, clarified an administration official.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Daniel Wallis)