US Congress to fund US$2M Pentagon study on deep sea mining

The Pentagon will explore the feasibility of refining ocean-floor minerals in the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper had access to documents showing that the U.S. Congress House Armed Services Committee has instructed the Pentagon to commit US$2 million to a feasibility study that will partner with “an entity experienced in refining critical minerals and producing battery-grade metals.”

The process, however, will only begin once the annual defence budget is signed into law later this year.

The Pentagon has also been commissioned by Congress to provide a roadmap on how the U.S. could source and possibly process critical minerals.

In March, Representatives Carol Miller (West Virginia) and John Joyce (Pennsylvania), both Republicans, introduced a bill to Congress pushing for the development and financing of deep-sea mining in the U.S. Last year, 30 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging American support for the sector.

“This is a big step in the right direction for the United States towards securing a stable supply of responsibly sourced critical minerals,” Gerard Barron, CEO and chairman of The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC), said in a release.

The company, one of the leaders in deep-sea mining research, has submitted an application seeking a US$9 million grant under the Pentagon’s Defense Production Act Title III program for feasibility work on a domestic refinery for nodule-derived intermediate products.

“The Metals Company remains acutely focused on starting production through our capital-light approach utilizing existing assets, but this encouraging policy action lays the foundation for the U.S. to catch up to China in the critical minerals race and establish metal independence,” Barron said.

Ocean floor reserves of metals like nickel, manganese, and cobalt are estimated to be worth trillions of dollars.

Scientists, however, say very little is still known about the depths of the world’s oceans, and many are concerned about the impacts on these ecosystems already affected by pollution, trawling, and the climate crisis.