Federal regulators are considering allowing deep-sea mining in an expanded area off the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean despite growing concerns among Republicans and environmental groups.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday announced it had identified almost 70 million acres in the outer continental shelf off the shores of the Northern Mariana Islands near Guam that could be open to mineral leasing. That’s compared with 35 million acres the agency was considering last fall.
Matt Giacona, BOEM’s acting director, recommended the agency consider the larger swath of underwater land in a letter to agency leaders, citing President Donald Trump’s directives calling for the government to accelerate deep-sea mining. Companies are interested in mining areas off the Northern Mariana Islands for cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese, zinc and rare earth elements.
“The Trump Administration recognizes that an overreliance on foreign critical minerals and their derivative products could jeopardize U.S. defense capabilities, infrastructure development, and technological innovation,” Giacona wrote.
