Trump Administration Sets Date for First Seabed Mining Lease Auction
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, recently reconfigured as the Marine Minerals Administration, announced a mining lease sale for seabed acreage next to Rose Atoll, east of American Samoa, to be held on November 19. The area may contain polymetallic nodules, and the lease sale is being held under a provision of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act outside International Seabed Authority supervision. Earthjustice filed suit to block the auction, arguing that OCSLA does not authorize mineral leasing in a U.S. unincorporated territory like American Samoa.
Why it matters: The lease auction shows critical minerals being framed as a strategic asset in global competition, while environmental and legal challenges test the governance of seabed extraction.