Because fear of China stimulates the extraction of metals from the sea in the USA
Concerned by Chinese expansion, the United States has begun to pay more attention to the extraction of metals from the seabed: these are resources useful for the energy transition and defense. The Wall Street Journal's in-depth analysis
Mining the ocean floor has often seemed like a fantasy, but US national security concerns could bring it closer to reality. Thousands of meters deep on the ocean floor, small rocks that contain large quantities of nickel, manganese and cobalt – the perfect combination of minerals to produce an electric vehicle battery – remain intact, as the high costs of reaching them, the lack of research and public opposition have made deep extraction an unattainable dream. Lobbying efforts to win government approval for mining seabed metals for electric vehicle batteries have often fallen on deaf ears, but advocates have found a way to get lawmakers' attention: a source of cobalt for US arms manufacturers to avoid Chinese suppliers, based on efforts to disengage from the Asian superpower – writes the WSJ .
THE CONGRESS PROPOSAL FOR DEEP WATER METAL MINING
“Without a doubt the narrative around deep sea mining has experienced a turning point, as it has clearly found a place in the context of national security,” said Samir Kapadia, a lobbyist for the Vogel Group backed by The Metals Company, one of the few companies operating in the sector. Kapadia said that in years past, lawmakers viewed deep-sea mining as an “unfeasible” idea, unlikely to be realized and even derided in some quarters.
The move into defense has spurred interest in the sector.
On Tuesday, Congressmen Carol Miller (R., W.Va.) and John Joyce (R., Pa.) introduced a bill to Congress to develop and finance offshore mining In particular, the bill proposes the idea of creating a processing industry within the United States and legalizing and formalizing deep-sea mining in international waters.
CHINA INSTITUTES FEAR
The urgency has been reinforced by China's growing dominance of many critical mineral supply chains and its growing influence over deep-sea mining. The country holds five contracts for seabed exploration in international waters, more than any other. The first is Russia. China has also sent research vessels to the Pacific Ocean, alarming US lawmakers.
In December, more than 30 Republican members of Congress wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to support deep-sea mining and mineral processing in the United States, warning of Chinese control of the critical minerals sector .
We cannot afford to allow China to capture and exploit seabed resources, which the CCP has characterized as “a new frontier for international competition.” We must explore every avenue to strengthen our supply chains of rare earths and critical minerals,” reads the letter signed by representatives of the caliber of. Robert Wittman (R., Va.) and Elise Stefanik (R., NY).
The U.S. Department of Defense is working on a report commissioned by the National Defense Authorization Act, which examines the U.S.'s ability to process minerals harvested from deep mining on domestic soil. The report, which was due on March 1, has been postponed. “While we have no specific details about this report to release today, we will continue to work closely with Congress on [the Department of Defense's] approach to securing critical minerals that are critical to defense systems,” the Pentagon this month.
THE MEETING OF UN OBSERVATORS
Next week, members of the International Seabed Authority, a United Nations watchdog organization, will meet in Kingston, Jamaica, to hammer out the final steps of a mining code that should eventually lead to rules and regulations definitives on deep sea mining. The United States will be present, although it has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, meaning it has no right to vote on new laws.
A group of former military and political leaders have called on the United States to ratify the Convention on the Law of the Sea in an effort to spur the country's interest in deep-sea mining, according to a draft letter seen by The Wall Street Journal.
THE METALS COMPANY PROJECT
TMC, in collaboration with the island country of the Republic of Nauru, is working on an exploratory project that has opened a possible door to begin exploiting the Pacific Ocean floor.
However, the market doesn't seem to believe it. Last year, TMC shares fell below the dollar and its main backer, Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk, sold its stake in the company. Liquidity has dwindled and opposition to the project has grown, with more than 20 countries calling for a moratorium. Greenpeace protesters boarded a TMC research vessel in the Pacific Ocean late last year.
But the company may have found its winning ticket with the defense. Since 2021, TMC has spent $680,000 on lobbyists in Washington to try to support deep-sea mining, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit group that tracks money in politics. Between 2021 and 2022, most of this lobbying was spent arguing that TMC would mine minerals such as nickel and cobalt, which are needed for EV batteries and therefore the energy transition.
Last year the move to defense finally gained traction.
“We talked about security of supply in our presentations over a decade ago,” said CEO Gerard Barron. “It's something we've always talked about. With defense we are generally demonstrating that the United States has woken up and that if we want mineral independence, we need to understand how to do it."
Over the past year, congressional leaders have met with deep-sea mining companies such as TMC and Houston-based Transocean to discuss deep-sea mining, with the specific goal of processing minerals on U.S. coasts.
“Critical minerals needed to build our combat systems, ships and aircraft and other critical aspects of the military, suddenly it was clear that there were shortages in many of these areas,” Wittman said . “We could be at China's mercy if we don't raise our game and get into the business of deep-sea mineral claims.”
In November, five Texas Republicans wrote a letter to the Department of Defense requesting funding to test the feasibility of TMC processing deep-sea minerals in the state, under the leadership of one of its subsidiaries, DeepGreen Resources. Meanwhile, the TMC continues to work with lobbyists, politicians and think tanks to try to advance its deep-sea mining ambitions.
“If [the Pentagon report] comes out and rejects deep-sea mining and takes a stand against it, it sends a strong signal to industry and politicians that they have no intention of making inroads into the U.S. government,” he said Arlo Hemphill, head of Stop Deep Sea Mining at Greenpeace USA. “If he rules in favor and authorizes the construction of facilities, it will give investors a signal to support deep-sea mining.”
THE OPPOSITION
Opposition, however, remains fierce. Groups such as Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature have lobbied against deep-sea mining for years. They say mining would cause irreparable damage to the seabed and the nodules targeted by mining companies are important habitats for marine life.
“The urgency of the climate crisis cannot be overstated, but the United States cannot simply sleepwalk into an environmental disaster,” said Katherine Tsantiris, director of government relations at the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit organization deals with the environment. The author added that the defense argument creates a false sense of urgency regarding the need for deep-sea mining.
“The seabed is already a critical point and could become even more so in the future,” said Asmeret Asghedom, deputy associate director of the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Asghedom said mineral extraction tends to generate conflict, especially in places like Latin America, and the “unconventional and untested approach” of deep-sea mining could make conflicts even more common.
(Extract from the eprcomunicazione press review)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/stati-uniti-estrazione-metalli-critici-fondali-sicurezza/ on Sat, 23 Mar 2024 05:52:58 +0000.