- The U.S. government is preparing to conduct lease sales to auction off blocks of the seabed for deep-sea mining in federal waters of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Alaska.
- If the lease sales proceed, they would mark a major step toward commercial-scale deep-sea mining, making the U.S. one of the first players in the industry.
- While many oppose these plans to start mining the deep sea and say the government’s timeline is rushed, others are more supportive.
- A spokesperson for the U.S. agency managing the sales, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, told Mongabay it is pursuing this process in a responsible manner.
This is part 1 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 1 explores the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. Part 2, to be published soon, will examine the regulations that would govern the industry.
The U.S. agency responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in federal waters is preparing to auction off seabed blocks within months — a step that could kick-start commercial-scale deep-sea mining and make the U.S. one of the first countries to allow it.
Deep-sea mining has not yet begun anywhere in the world. Opponents say it could cause widespread and irreversible damage to the marine environment if it begins, while supporters say it could provide an important source of critical minerals.
In a budgetary document released in April 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) indicated it intends to hold at least three offshore lease sales during the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years. The lease sales will take place through competitive auctions, providing a pathway for winning companies to gain exclusive rights to explore and exploit minerals in designated tracts of seabed.
The first sale is slated for the federal waters of American Samoa in August 2026; a second in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in November 2026; and a third in Alaska in 2027. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. agency currently responsible for the development of offshore energy and mineral resources on the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS), confirmed this timeline.
If completed, the lease sales would be the first of their kind in the world. Other countries have moved close to issuing licenses for deep-sea mining activities in their territorial waters, but haven’t followed through. For instance, Norway planned to hold seabed auctions, but delayed them, while India began an auction but didn’t finish the bidding process. In parts of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction, the U.N.-affiliated multilateral International Seabed Authority has issued licenses for mineral exploration, but none yet for commercial exploitation. At the same time, the U.S. has controversially taken steps toward issuing licenses for commercial mineral exploration and exploitation in international waters.
Across the three U.S. territories, nearly 875,000 square kilometers (about 338,000 square miles) of seabed have been identified as potential mining areas — an area roughly twice the size of the U.S. state of California. However, any actual leases would likely be limited to selected tracts within those broader designated areas. Still, if the lease sales proceed, large stretches of seabed in U.S. federal waters could be opened up for mining, which would see companies sending heavy machinery thousands of meters below the surface of the ocean to extract seabed minerals.
Tony Romeo, the CEO of a newly formed deep-sea mining company based in South Carolina, called Eco Minerals and previously known as Deep Sea Rare Minerals, told Mongabay he’s interested in mining in all three areas where lease sales will be held. He said he believes “virtually nothing” in the marine environment would be harmed when his company mines the seabed due to the “low footprint” mining equipment his company would be using.
“We’re picking up rocks at the bottom of the ocean,” Romeo said. “We’re not scraping, digging, blasting, killing fish, dragging nets on the bottom of the ocean. It’s a very thoughtful process.”
However, environmental advocates say this industry could cause widespread and irreversible destruction to the marine environment. “How can these miners suggest they’re causing no harm when they are removing the very structure of the ecosystem?” Arlo Hemphill, an ocean campaigner at environmental group Greenpeace USA, told Mongabay via text message.
Reunification of U.S. agencies
The disclosure of the lease sale timeline follows a number of executive orders from President Donald Trump calling for an acceleration of energy and critical mineral production in the U.S., including an order commanding the rapid development of the deep-sea mining industry for reasons of national security and economic prosperity.
“Securing reliable access to critical minerals is a national priority,” a spokesperson for BOEM, told Mongabay in an emailed statement. “BOEM’s current work to establish a strong scientific foundation, conduct responsible environmental review, and put sound oversight frameworks in place will help facilitate efficient future development of these important resources that are essential for our nation’s economic well-being and technological advancement.”
Also in April, DOI announced that it intended to reunite BOEM and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to form the Marine Mineral Administration (MMA). These agencies were separated in 2010 after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest marine oil spill in U.S. waters, resulted in an environmental catastrophe. The breakup was aimed at increasing environmental surveillance and preventing future disasters. Critics say putting the agencies back together as the MMA, especially alongside significant proposed budget and staff cuts, could weaken oversight of deep-sea mining, particularly when it comes to the environment.
Elizabeth Klein, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who acted as BOEM’s director between 2023 and 2025, told Mongabay she believes there’s “no justification” for putting the two agencies back together.
“Both of those agencies, under the best of circumstances, were already under-resourced — BSEE in particular, for many years,” Klein told Mongabay. “Part of the concern has been that they do not have sufficient inspection and enforcement capability, that they need more funding for those activities, that they need more bodies.
“So now you add deep-sea mining, which is going to be taking place literally thousands and thousands and thousands of miles from any BOEM and BSEE office,” Klein added. “BOEM and BSEE don’t have staff located in the territories. The closest offices will probably be the Pacific office, which does not have sufficient capacity to handle this new industry.”
When Mongabay asked BOEM about these concerns, the spokesperson said DOI “will ensure that appropriate resources and expertise are in place to meet all statutory and regulatory responsibilities.”
Fast-moving mining plans?
The DOI must complete several steps before the lease sales can proceed. These include publishing a request for information and interest, or RFI, to gauge commercial interest in leasing areas and gather public comments. The RFI processes have already been completed for American Samoa, CMNI and Alaska. The department must also publish a proposed leasing notice in the Federal Register and a final notice at least 30 days before the sale. Additionally, it must conduct environmental reviews of the potential lease sales, which the BOEM spokesperson said had already been “formally initiated” for the American Samoa and CMNI areas.
In February, the U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), under the Department of Commerce, which is working in coordination with BOEM, began surveying the seabed in American Samoa. This will “inform federal agencies and the public of the potential likelihood of finding critical mineral deposits in the surveyed area,” Kim Doster, NOAA’s communication director, told Mongabay via email.
Companies that win a lease will also need to follow a number of processes before they can begin mining.
Despite the steps yet to be taken, deep-sea mining companies are anticipating starting very soon. For instance, Romeo of Eco Minerals said he aims to begin exploitation in federal waters in two or three years.
Pula’ali’i Nikolao Pula, the governor of American Samoa and the territory’s highest-ranking political official, told Mongabay in an email that while his government’s position “remains one of strong caution and opposition to rushed commercial leasing” in American Samoa’s exclusive economic zone, he was “not that concerned” about the timeline set out by the U.S. government.
“I have always kept the welfare of our people as our top priority,” Pula said. “Our tuna industry and the health of our oceans are critically important. Nevertheless, the welfare of our people is always the top priority. And if there is a way our people could benefit from a new industry with no harm coming to our oceans, then any good leader would want to consider the benefits.”
In 2024, the governor of American Samoa at the time, Lemanu Peleti Mauga, enacted a moratorium on deep-sea mining in its territorial waters, which extend 3 nautical miles (5.6 kilometers) from its shorelines. The U.S. government controls the much larger remainder of American Samoa’s exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nmi (370 km) from its shorelines.
Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, founder of the Fina Finau Foundation, an environmental organization in American Samoa that opposes deep-sea mining, told Mongabay Pula’s stance on deep-sea mining “hasn’t been as strong” as her local community would like it to be. She also expressed disappointment in the U.S. government for not adequately consulting the American Samoan people.
“It’s kind of an insult at this point, because we’ve already opposed it, and our voices are seen as optional.” Suluai-Mahuka said.
Environmental advocates from CNMI and Alaska have also raised concerns about the government’s plans.
Angelo Villagomez, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan policy institute, who grew up in Saipan in the CNMI, told Mongabay in a text message this move toward mining indicates “profound failure of governance and a direct assault on the rights of the Indigenous peoples who call these islands home.”
Cooper Freeman, the Alaska director of the U.S. nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, and a resident of the coastal community of Homer, Alaska, called the speed of the developments “shocking” and said there was little support for this industry in the state.
“The ocean is the breadbasket for communities along the coast,” Freeman said. “It’s the heartbeat of our fishing industry and our incredible marine mammals and birds … that thrive here in Alaska, and I think it’s not lost on anyone the amount of damage that could be done in these areas.”
The CMNI government and the Alaskan state government did not respond to Mongabay’s requests for comments.
A spokesperson for BOEM told Mongabay the agency is actively engaging with tribes and Indigenous peoples in Alaska, American Samoa and CNMI and has initiated a formal consultation process with Alaska natives. They said the bureau is also considering feedback from the RFI processes that identified potential environmental and cultural impacts to “ensure safe and environmentally responsible activities should a lease sale occur.”
Speaking on American Samoa in particular, the BOEM spokesperson said there had already been “meaningful dialogue regarding the future of competitive marine minerals lease sales offshore the territory” with American Samoan officials, and that there will be “additional opportunities for Governor Pula to engage with BOEM and the Department as BOEM continues to consider potential leasing activity.”
Klein said she believes the agency is rushing the lease sales and that doing so introduces legal and social risk. BOEM did not respond to Mongabay’s questions about these potential risks.
“For folks who are supportive of this type of activity, they actually should be advocating to the agency that they slow down,” Klein said. “Because I think moving this fast runs the risk that those first projects … are going to fail because they have not established or done the homework to make sure that they’ve generated goodwill amongst the territorial communities.”
Banner image caption: A deep-sea starfish, Atheraster arandae, holds on to thin coral branches near the ocean floor in American Samoa. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos.
Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a senior staff writer for Mongabay and was a 2024-2025 fellow with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. Find her on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
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