The Interior Department on Thursday took a step toward launching what could be the first mineral lease in U.S. waters in more than 30 years.
The department announced it plans to publish a request for information and interest in the coming days to mine the deep seas off of American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the Polynesia region of the South Pacific. Upon publication in the Federal Register, the agency will take public comment for 30 days.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a statement said the administration is putting “America first” and moving to unlock vast stores of offshore minerals and ease the nation’s reliance on countries like China.
President Donald Trump in April inked an executive order to boost deep-sea mining, part of a broader push to open the nation’s land and waters to more mining and production of minerals.
