By Jayvee Vallejera
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has received an application for a license to conduct seabed mining exploration in an area between Guam and Wake Island, setting off a process that could eventually lead to the commercial extraction of rare-earth minerals and critical metals from beneath the Pacific Ocean.
NOAA will hold a virtual hearing on Nov. 16 to seek feedback on Eco Minerals' license application, which was submitted on Dec. 5, 2005, but made public only this month.
In a notice published in the Federal Register on Oct. 13, NOAA said Eco Minerals is seeking to map out a portion of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean.
It was not clear if the target area is covered by the proposed lease notice for the seabed off the Mariana Islands, which is scheduled for auction in December.
Wake Island is an unorganized, unincorporated U.S. territory, approximately 1,501 miles from Guam. However, the island, which is a coral atoll, is also claimed by the Marshall Islands.
Known as one of the world’s largest polymetallic nodule fields, the zone lies in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Mexico. It is administered by the International Seabed Authority.
The world’s increasing appetite for rare-earth minerals and other critical minerals, such as nickel and cobalt, is creating this century’s equivalent of a gold rush, as countries and companies race to mine the estimated 210 trillion tons of polymetallic nodules that litter the ocean floor worldwide.
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone alone is estimated to have 21.1 tons of polymetallic nodules scattered on the seafloor in an area of about 1.7 million square miles.
Polymetallic nodules are fist-sized rocks that contain valuable metals and minerals essential to modern technologies such as batteries and renewable energy systems.
Their extraction from the ocean floor is being heralded as the answer to the growing global demand for critical resources, but many environmental groups oppose the headlong rush toward seabed mining because of the lack of regulations governing this emerging industry and fears of environmental collapse.
Although the United States has not yet issued any licenses to begin commercial deep-sea mining, environmental advocates point to what they say is an accelerated process for this emerging industry, which begins with a planned auction on Nov. 19.
The U.S. plans to hold the first deep-sea mining lease sale off American Samoa and will offer about 31 million acres of seabed for exploration by mining companies.
As part of the application review process, NOAA will hold one virtual public hearing and accept written comments via email. The deadline for submission of comments is Dec. 14.
The virtual public hearing will be held on Nov. 16, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time (Nov. 17, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., CHst). It will be held via Adobe Connect.
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