The Trump administration may give a boost to deep-sea mining for important minerals

Critical minerals are the new oil: everyone needs them, but not every country has them. This has prompted some to search for it in some beautiful, wild places. There are few places as exotic as the depths of the ocean.

But deep sea mining appears It is preparing for support from the incoming Trump administrationaccording to the Wall Street Journal. A number of candidates have previously said they support the practice, which typically involves vacuuming up egg-like rocks known as nodules from the ocean floor.

Nodules are made up of a range of minerals, depending on where they are located. Mining companies can recover copper, nickel, cobalt and other metals, all of which are vital to data centers and the energy transition.

But deep sea mining is controversial. Life thousands of feet below sea level tends to be slow-growing and fragile. Even small disturbances to the ocean floor can persist for decades, and scientists worry that sediment plumes created by mining companies’ vacuum cleaners will leave scars that may never recover over human time.

Removing the nodules may threaten life in the deep sea, too: Because light doesn’t reach the depths to drive photosynthesis, organisms rely on other sources of energy and oxygen, from geothermal vents to… The nodules themselves.

However, the value of those minerals and their presence in international waters has some countries salivating over the possibility. The International Seabed Authority, a United Nations organization, is charged with regulating deep-sea mining in international waters, and it recently received a permit application from Minerals Corporation, an American company that works with the Republic of Nauru, an impoverished island to the south. Pacific Ocean. Other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and France, have called for a ban on the practice.

Given the international focus on deep-sea mining, two candidates for the Trump administration stand out: Elise Stefanik and Marco Rubio. Stefanik is Trump’s pick for UN ambassador, and Rubio is expected to take over the State Department. Ultimately, they will be the ones negotiating with other countries to determine how deep-sea mining will be regulated.

Despite the favorable political environment, deep-sea mining still faces some difficulties. Battery manufacturers are starting to move away from expensive metals like nickel and cobalt. If this trend continues, it could lead to lower demand and lower prices, undermining the sector’s profitability.