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Cloud patterns and the midnight sun reflect on the surface of the Chukchi Sea on July 10, 2021. The U.S. Outer Continental Shelf extends over much of the Chukchi Sea. The Trump administration is floating the idea of seafloor mining in Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf. (Photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) <\/p>\n
The Trump administration is floating the idea of mining the seafloor off Alaska\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Tuesday it will soon release a formal \u201ccall for information\u201d about possible sales of leases for minerals mining in federal waters off Alaska. The call for information will kick off a 30-day public comment period allowing industry to express interest in such a lease sale.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlaska\u2019s offshore holds strategic potential for the minerals that drive American industry, defense and next-generation technologies,\u201d Matt Giacona, BOEM\u2019s acting director, said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThis Request for Information is a practical first step to gauge interest and identify areas where development could make sense for jobs, investment and national supply chains.\u201d<\/p>\n The push for offshore minerals mining \u201csupports the Trump Administration\u2019s focus on strengthening domestic supply chains and advancing American energy and resource leadership,\u201d the BOEM statement said.<\/p>\n There has never been a minerals lease sale in Alaska\u2019s Outer Continental Shelf, BOEM said.<\/p>\n Some parts of Alaska\u2019s Outer Continental Shelf are relatively shallow, but some are deep enough to fit the International Union for the Conservation of Nature\u2019s 200-meter threshold<\/a> that defines deep-sea mining.<\/p>\n There is a history of offshore gold mining<\/a> in shallow state waters in one area of Alaska: the Nome region. It is managed<\/a> by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources\u2019 Division of Mining, Land and Water and conducted through suction dredging<\/a>, a mechanized process that vacuums up sediments from which gold is sifted.<\/p>\n The Nome offshore mining activity has become famous through a reality TV show called “Bering Sea Gold<\/a>.” But that type of mining can be controversial. There is widespread opposition in the Nome area to a proposal to expand underwater mining, and DNR last year denied a permit<\/a> sought by the company pushing that proposal.<\/p>\n The idea of underwater mining in federal waters drew quick opposition from environmentalists.<\/p>\n \u201cThis step toward offshore mining shows that the Trump administration only sees Alaska\u2019s vibrant seafloor as an extraction zone for corporate profit,\u201d Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. \u201cThe health and vitality of Alaskan coastal communities are deeply tied to a healthy ocean. Destroying the seafloor by mining puts the entire marine food web in grave danger, from walruses and bearded seals to crab and halibut.\u201d That, in turn, threatens Alaska traditions and economies, he said.<\/p>\n Becca Robbins Gisclair, Ocean Conservancy\u2019s senior director of Arctic and northern waters, also issued a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis proposal targets the very waters that make Alaska\u2019s fisheries world class. Deep-sea mining in the proposed areas \u2014 many of which are protected habitat \u2014 should not even be on the table. We cannot trade Alaska\u2019s food, cultures and economy for the new and risky endeavor of deep-sea mining, which we know threatens species both on the seafloor and throughout the water column,\u201d she said in the statement.<\/p>\n There are international implications, Gisclair added. \u201cDeep-sea mining in the Central Arctic Ocean is unprecedented and unworkable. This would be the starting gun for an international scramble to exploit this pristine sea. Deep sea-mining is a losing proposition for Alaska, America and the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n BOEM last year suggested leasing for deep-sea mining in two other U.S. regions<\/a>: American Samoa<\/a> and the Northern Mariana Islands<\/a>. The agency last year issued requests for information on underwater mining in those areas. The comment periods have now expired.<\/p>\n The American Samoa deep-sea mining idea drew over 76,000 comments<\/a>, and nearly 9,000 of them have been published by BOEM. The published comments expressed vigorous opposition to the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the life that grows on and around areas targeted for deep-sea mining, the resulting destruction will be comprehensive and irreversible. The deep sea is Earth\u2019s least understood ecosystem \u2014 with new species discovered every year \u2014 and it is also among its most fragile,\u201d said one of the comments<\/a>.<\/p>\n But a California-based company called Impossible Metals said BOEM should proceed with a lease sale off American Samoa.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States sits atop an estimated billion\u2011ton reserve of polymetallic nodules that can underwrite a century of industrial leadership, yet today those resources lie fallow while China races to secure global supply,\u201d said the company\u2019s July 16, 2025, comment letter.<\/p>\n