Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,
The Trump administrationapprovedon May 1 its first deep-sea critical minerals exploration application, submitted by North Carolina-based deep-sea mining explorer The Metals Company USA (TMC).
The company expects to find millions of tons of nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese on the sea floor needed in the United States for electric vehicle batteries, infrastructure, and national defense systems.
TMCappliedfor the 10-year license last year after President Donald Trumporderedthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to expedite the process of reviewing and issuing the deep-sea permits to “unleash America’s offshore critical minerals and resources.”
“NOAA has determined that this application is fully compliant with the applicable application information requirements,”the agencyreportedMay 1.
Theapplicationnow moves into the certification stage and will undergo an environmental review process and be open for public comment before a license and permit are issued. TMC USA expects the process to conclude sometime in the first three months of 2027.
TMC is a subsidiary of a larger Canadian exploration firm with the same name that holds rights to what it describes as the world’s largest undeveloped resource of battery-grade nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese.
“This determination marks an important step forward in NOAA’s transparent, rules-based process, and brings us ever closer to providing the U.S. with a new, abundant and lower-impact source of critical metals,”parent company TMC CEO Gerard Barron said in astatement.
“It reflects the sheer scale of scientific, environmental, and engineering effort and expertise that have been brought to bear on this project over the last 15 years, which provides us with sufficient information to move efficiently and responsibly into commercial operations under NOAA’s oversight,” Barron said.
NOAA determined that the application for an exploration license and commercial recovery permit under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act was in full compliance.
Source: ZeroHedge News
