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The Trump administration’s push to expand deep-sea mining has prompted a small but growing group of companies to seek access to potentially lucrative deposits of critical minerals in the Pacific Ocean, Bloomberg reports.
One example is Copperhead Resources, a Canadian gold exploration company that quickly rebranded as Deep Sea Minerals Corp., established a U.S. subsidiary and applied for a federal license to explore the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a mineral-rich area between Hawaii and Mexico.
In June, the company had just $1.6 million in cash and was seeking to raise $50 million for exploration, reflecting the financial challenges facing newcomers to the industry. Experts warn that deep-sea mining remains commercially unproven and could require billions of dollars in investment, advanced technology and specialized refining infrastructure.
The industry also faces significant legal and environmental hurdles. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is governed internationally by the U.N.-affiliated International Seabed Authority, whose mining regulations remain unfinished, while environmental groups and several countries oppose or seek to limit seabed mining because of potential damage to marine ecosystems.
Companies must also overcome technological challenges involving robotic equipment, transporting mineral-rich nodules from the seafloor and refining them. Even established Australian operator The Metals Co. faces substantial costs, lawsuits and regulatory uncertainty. With limited U.S. refining capacity and a proposed Texas processing facility still at least five to seven years away, experts question how quickly the administration’s push can produce a commercially viable industry, despite the White House calling deep-sea mining a presidential priority.
