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.
Pallava Bagla | Corbis News | Getty images
The critical impulse of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, seems ready to pave the way for a gold fever at the bottom of the ocean.
In search of counteracting the Mineral Domain of China, the Trump Administration in April signed a broad executive order to accelerate deep water mining within US and international waters.
The movement is designed to help private companies access thousands of tons of rocks in the size of a potatoes known as polymetallic nodules, which are rich in strategically important minerals.
The Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration of the United States, a government agency, seemed to welcome Trump’s announcement, saying that the Executive Order announces “the next gold fever” and establishes the land for “a prosperous national manufacturing industry.”
However, Washington’s unilateral support for deep water mining is considered very controversial, with critics that mark legal and environmental concerns. The China Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Trump’s executive order, saying that “viola” international law and “harms the collective interests” of the international community.
Reflecting on the current state of the industry, The metal company (TMC) CEO Gerard Barron said: “They are encouraging.”
I think this order will shake the geopolitical board game.
Maria José (Majo) Valverde
Biodiversity and Sustainability Analyst in Eurasia Group
TMC quickly followed Trump’s executive order requesting a commercial license to extract the background of the ocean. If approved, the company that is quoted at Nasdaq could become the first mining firm of Matas Marina to obtain a license to exploit minerals in international waters.
“The only thing that this administration offers is some certainty in the direction, and I think that the only problem we have always faced is regulatory certainty, and that is not available in the ISA. But it is abundantly available in the United States,” Barron told CNBC by video calls.
In response to the TMC request from a license to extract the US National Law, the International Most Marine Authority (ISA), a poorly known UN regulator that supervises deep water mining, said it remains the only legal authority to regulate mining activities of marine steps in international waters.
And although companies are “free to express their views,” the ISA warned that any attempt to avoid this process “would constitute a violation of international law.”
Gerard Barron, president and CEO of The Metals Company, hopes that his company can extract the seabed for nickel, cobalt, manganese in the Pacific Ocean.
Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty images
ISA’s negotiators have tried to design a rules book to regulate the exploitation and extraction of polymetallic nodules and other deposits at the bottom of the ocean, before the mining activity begins.
Isa’s general secretary, Leticia Carvalho, told CNBC last year that it was feasible for Member States to agree on some form of regulation at the end of 2025.
Interest of ‘phenomenal’ investors
Barron of TMC disputed the ISA timeline for a mining code, saying that there is no possibility of an international agreement this year. He described the interest of investors after Trump’s executive order as “like night and day” for the company, with TMC currently increasing efforts to prepare production.
“We are believers. We were sure that we would eventually solve this form or another. But the interest of investors from the executive order … has been phenomenal,” Barron said.
The practice of deep water mining implies the use of machinery to eliminate minerals and metals, such as cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese, of the seabed. The final use of these minerals is of great reach and includes applications for the green defense and technology sectors.
The pilot vehicle of nodules designed by Allseas for use by the metal company. Photo provided by the metal company.
Photo courtesy of the metal company
In fact, together with the shoring of safety and the manufacture of the supply chain, the defenders say, the seabed mining could help reduce the dependence of large mining operations on land.
Meanwhile, scientists have warned that complete environmental impacts on mining of sea beds are difficult to predict, while environmental campaign groups say that practice cannot be done sustainably.
Barron de TMC, who recently testified at a hearing at the United States Congress, said the company intends to present an environmental impact statement to the regulator, noting that “conclusively indicates the fact that we can do this safely and that we can minimize the impact.”
“What people have lost is that there is zero possibilities that this does not happen,” said Barron. He added that the company is confident that it will receive a permit to commercially extract the back of the sea before the end of the year.
Geopolitical consequences
Maria Jose (Majo) Valverde, Biodiversity and Sustainability Analyst of Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, said that the support of the United States for deep water mining could have deep geopolitical repercussions.
“I think this order will shake the game from the Geopolitical Board. The United States has already done so in the climate space leaving the Paris Agreement and I think this is now merging into broader environmental processes,” said Valverde.
In particular, Trump’s executive order could encourage ISA member states to finally reach an agreement to formalize a mining code, Valverde said, particularly since the UN has now been effectively notified to avoid a race towards the bottom of the ocean.
“If the United States has to pursue this strategy of ‘Go Solo’, other countries can coordinate, for example, to avoid the purchase of minerals extracted from the United States or negotiate more favorable agreements between them, especially China, because they are really active in ISA negotiations,” said Valverde.
Trump’s executive order “has expanded the panorama of the options that countries could follow, especially now that multilateralism is eroding and that we are in a g-zero environment where countries only look for their own backyard, and become more creative about what they are willing to consider,” he added.
Legal and environmental concerns
Danielle Fugere, president and main lawyer of AS SW, a shareholders’ defense group, said the non -profit organization of the United States is “deeply concerned” by Trump’s executive order.
“Whatever the United States does, there must be a regulatory review. For Trump to issue an executive order that requires that advances with this immediately, that is problematic,” Fugere told CNBC per video call.
“I think this creates a storm. China says that this is illegal and the law of the sea should govern deep water resources that should benefit all humanity, and that in fact it is what the law of the sea requires. However, here is the United States saying that it has the right to loot deep waters,” he added.
Environmental activists who ask for an international moratorium on deep water mining.
Soup images | LIGHTROCKET | Getty images
Undoubtedly, the United States is one of the few countries that has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
While planting, which supports a deep -waters mining moratorium, he said that Trump’s order means that ISA member states are now under intense pressure to find a regulatory framework on how, and yes, deep water mining should advance.
“We are very concerned about this executive order and the impact that it is likely to have on these organisms, in these resources and fishing nations that depend on the oceans for their livelihoods,” said Fugere.
