Critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese can be found in nodules of the size of a potato in the bottom of the seabed.
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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has signed a broad executive order to boost the controversial practice of deep water mining, seeking to compensate for China’s dominant position in critical chains of the supply of minerals.
The administration is trying to quickly follow the search for strategically important minerals such as nickel, copper and rare earth elements of the seabed in American and international waters.
“The United States has a basic national security and economic interest in maintaining leadership in the science and technology of the depth sea and the mineral resources of the seabed,” Trump said in the executive order on Thursday.
Unilateral action is intended to “counteract China’s growing influence on the mineral resources of the seabed”, strengthen associations with the allies and ensure that US companies are “well positioned” to support those interested in developing responsible marine seas minerals.
The order, which according to critics contradict global efforts to adopt regulation, directs the Trump administration to accelerate mining permits under the law of halls of the funds of the Deeps or 1980.
It also seeks to establish a process for the issuance of permits along the exterior continental platform of the United States and, in particular, requires the accelerated review of the mining permits of marine beds “in areas beyond the national jurisdiction.”
What is deep water mining?
The practice of deep water mining implies the use of heavy machinery to eliminate minerals and metals from the seabed, where they accumulate in nodules the size of a potato. The final use of these minerals is wide range and includes electric batteries of vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.
The defenders of the practice say that deep water mining could be a highly lucrative industry that finally reduces the dependence of large mining operations on land.
However, scientists warn that complete environmental impacts or deep water mining are difficult to predict. Environmental campaign groups say that practice cannot be sustainable and will lead to the destruction of the ecosystem and species extinction.
Environmental activists who ask for an international moratorium on deep water mining.
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“We condemn the attempt of this administration to launch this destructive industry in the high seas in the Pacific without going through the United Nations process,” said Arlo Hempill de Greenpeace USA on Friday.
“This is an insult to multilatery and a limp to the entire country and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry,” said Hephill in a statement.
The International Most Marine Authority (ISA), a poorly known UN regulator that supervises deep water mining, has been looking for for years to solve the murky future of deep water mining before any mining activity begins. It is considering standards to regulate the exploitation and extraction of polymetallic nodules and other deposits at the bottom of the ocean.
Negotiators have the leg trying to ensure that the formal rules are in force by the end of 2025, the main critics of Trump’s executive order to question their moment.
The ISA was established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNClos) of 1982, a treaty that the United States has not ratified.
The agency is responsible for both the exploitation and the conservation of an area that covers around 54% of the world’s oceans. Isa’s general secretary, Leticia Carvalho, told CNBC last year that it is still feasible that ISA member states can agree some form of regulation at the end of 2025.
Unexpected field alliances
“This alignment of the private sector with the US administration could increase global geopolitical tensions on critical minerals and international water control,” said Eurasia Group analysts in a published research note Thisday.
“Dimassal of the UN Prainings promises it to lead to alliances from uniform countries in opposition,” they added.
Gerard Barron, president and CEO of The Metals Company, hopes that the company can extract the Seaflor for the nickel, the cobalt, the manganese in the Pacific Ocean.
Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty images
For example, the tasks of shares of the Mining Exploration of Deep Water of the United States and Canada, The Metals Company, have been criticized by more than 40 countries, including China, Russia and Great Britain, among others.
“Norway, which previously considered the mining of the seabed within its national waters, has now aligned with China, India and the country of Poland, generally more support or rationalization of the approval processes of Fors Fors, to the sea doll, too opposes, opposes Opposo-Too-Too-Too, Oppose-Too Oppode-Too-Oopon Oppose.
“The concern focuses on the United States and abruptly avoiding eggs in deep water mining,” they added.
