The U.S. Department of the Interior said Tuesday that it’s beginning the process of selling deep-sea mining leases after a request from startup Impossible Metals.
The agency said the process would “evaluate a potential mineral lease sale in the waters offshore American Samoa.” The administrative procedure requires a publication in the federal register and the solicitation of public feedback before considering any sales.
Given the tone of the Secretary of the Interior’s statement on the matter, the lease sale might be a foregone conclusion.
“Critical minerals are fundamental to strengthening our nation’s resilience and safeguarding our national interests,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said. “By providing opportunities to responsibly access deep-sea mineral resources, we are supporting both American economic growth and national security.”
Impossible Metals, a deep-sea mining startup, submitted a formal request for the leases in April.
The company has developed an underwater autonomous vehicle that’s lowered by crane to the ocean floor, where it uses robotic claws to grab polymetallic nodules rich in minerals. Impossible Metals claims that its UAV is less disruptive to the fragile deep-water ecosystem than its competitors, many of which use vacuums to hoover up the nodules.
Polymetallic nodules form over the course of millions of years, accumulating minerals that are dissolved in seawater, including manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, and copper. As the world electrifies, demand for such critical minerals has skyrocketed. China’s dominance over key mineral markets like cobalt have also sent companies and governments searching for alternative sources.
The lumps of metal have caught the eye of prospectors because they contain incredibly high concentrations of minerals, far higher than terrestrial mines typically recover.
Ecologists and oceanographers have warned that mining operations in regions rich with polymetallic nodules risk disrupting fragile ecosystems. Life down deep grows slowly, and any disruption there would take decades to bounce back. One recent study found that microbial communities would need 50 years to recover from mining operations.
Sponges and other creatures growing on the floor could be directly harmed by the mining robots, and those that are passed over would still have to cope with sediment plumes polluting the normally clear water. What’s more, the nodules themselves produce oxygen, suggesting they may help researchers find life on other planets.