U.S. backs plan to explore deep-sea mining near American Samoa amid legal and environmental concerns

A California company’s bid to mine the seafloor near American Samoa gained momentum after the U.S. Interior Department agreed to review its proposal following a Trump administration order to fast-track seabed mining.

Max Bearak reports for The New York Times.

In short:

• The Interior Department will assess a request by Impossible Metals to mine nearly 30,000 square miles of seabed in U.S. territorial waters off American Samoa.
• The move follows President Trump’s April executive order pushing federal agencies to expedite seabed mining permits, even in contested international waters.
• Environmental and legal pushback continues, as critics say unilateral U.S. action violates international norms and risks deep-sea ecosystems that are poorly understood.

Key quote:

“As soon as the executive order came out, that very much directed the different groups to accelerate and prioritize deep-sea mining.”

— Oliver Gunasekara, CEO of Impossible Metals

Why this matters:

Deep-sea mining offers access to minerals like cobalt, nickel, and manganese — critical for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and defense technologies — but at potentially high environmental costs. These ecosystems, found thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface, remain largely unexplored and may host ancient life forms uniquely adapted to extreme pressure and darkness. Disrupting the seabed to extract mineral nodules could irreversibly damage fragile habitats and threaten species not yet studied by science. Moreover, sediment plumes and noise pollution from mining operations may ripple through the marine food chain.

While most countries await international consensus through the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority, the U.S. — which never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty — is pushing ahead unilaterally. American Samoa, with limited political representation and a history of environmental vulnerability, stands at the intersection of global power, corporate ambition, and Indigenous rights.

Related: Mining firm defies global regulator in bid to extract metals from Pacific seabed