The U.S. government has taken another definitive step toward launching a deep-sea mining industry, starting in the waters of American Samoa, despite public opposition.
On July 17, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), a new U.S. agency formed by merging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, announced intentions to hold a lease sale for seabed mining on Nov. 19 in Camarillo, California.
The MMA also stated that the proposed lease “does not guarantee that a lease sale will be held” or that “exploration or collection activities will occur should MMA move forward with a sale.” Still, opponents see the proposal as a major step toward commercial deep-sea mining — an industry that has drawn widespread criticism over its potential impacts on marine ecosystems.
If the lease sale moves forward, the proposal indicates that companies will be able to secure 20-year leases across nearly 127,500 square kilometers (approximately 49,000 square miles) of seabed in the ocean surrounding American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. The minimum bid for each of the two lease areas will be $3 million, and royalties in year 11 of the lease will be $1.25 per acre and increase over time.
The lease sale itself won’t be open to the public, but will be live streamed, according to the announcement.
The MMA indicated that the governor of American Samoa will have 60 days to comment on the proposed lease sale.
“Advancing this notice is an important step toward building a secure domestic critical minerals supply chain, strengthening U.S. economic and national security, and ensuring America can compete and win in the 21st century,” Matt Giacona, the acting director of MMA, said in a statement.
The proposed mining area is adjacent to the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, a marine protected area that serves as a nesting ground and refuge for many threatened and endangered species.
Critics accuse the U.S. government of disregarding the concerns of many American Samoans, as well as members of the broader public, who have voiced opposition to the proposal.
“Pacific people have made our position clear: we do not want deep sea mining in our waters,” Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, founder of Finafinau Foundation, an environmental organization in American Samoa that opposes deep-sea mining, said in a statement. “Yet the Trump administration is forcing this industry on our communities — imposing decisions that could affect us permanently without consulting us. Our ocean is our home, our food, our culture, and our future, and we are calling on the Administration to stop this reckless lease sale before irreversible harm is done.”
The U.S. government led by President Donald Trump has also indicated that it intends to auction off blocks of the seabed for deep-sea mining in the waters of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Alaska and Virginia.
Banner image: A deep-sea frogfish in the deep waters of National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. Image by NOAA Okeanos.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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