The Marine Mineral Administration, an agency under the US Department of the Interior, has proposed auctioning deep-sea exploration leases covering 28 million hectares (69 million acres) of seafloor off Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The leases would allow companies to survey the seabed and potentially extract polymetallic nodules, deposits containing critical minerals used in batteries, electronics and defence technologies. Officials in both US Pacific territories have opposed the proposal or urged strict safeguards.
What the proposal would allow
The proposed leases cover seabed near the Mariana Trench. The Marine Mineral Administration said it had completed an environmental review of proposed commercial critical-mineral leases in the Marianas area and would consider comments from the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The proposal concerns exploration leases, and the agency has said mining would not begin simply because licences are awarded. Environmental groups nevertheless argue that more research is needed before deep-sea mining proceeds because extraction and even exploration could affect marine ecosystems.
Territorial governments call for caution
Northern Mariana Islands Governor David Apatang said his government would approach the plan “with extreme caution”. He said no activity or survey should take place without rigorous scientific baseline studies, full transparency and explicit protections for marine resources. His administration plans to examine the proposed terms over the next 60 days.
Guam’s governor’s office said national-security priorities should not require Pacific residents to accept environmental risks before those risks are understood. Lieutenant Governor Joshua Tenorio said Guam was “unequivocally opposed” to deep-sea mining in the region and questioned assurances that mining would not start with the licences.
A wider Pacific dispute is already under way
The Marianas proposal follows the start of a leasing process for 12.4 million hectares (31 million acres) of American Samoa’s seafloor, with contracts planned for award in November. American Samoa Governor Nikolau Pula has maintained opposition to deep-sea mining, saying untested extraction methods could harm the territory’s tuna industry.
On 19 August, environmental groups in American Samoa and Hawaii began legal proceedings in a Hawaii court seeking to halt the proposed American Samoa seafloor-permit auction. Their complaint alleges that federal agencies failed to assess the potential damage to marine ecosystems, including sediment disruption, toxic substances entering the food web and noise affecting marine mammals and other wildlife.
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