Congressional Leaders Urge President Biden and the Department of Defense to Consider Polymetallic Nodules for U.S. Critical Mineral Supplies and National Security
Retrieved on:
Monday, July 31, 2023
Pentagon, Plague, Mineral, Manganese, Senate, Metal, Defense, Member, Dan Sullivan (U.S. senator), United States House Committee on Natural Resources, United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, United States Senate Energy Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining, United States and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, United Nations Convention, Unitary state, Foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration, International Seabed Authority, DOE, Primary energy, Strategic planning, Government, Administration, Congress, Inflation, China Daily, UNCLOS, TMC, Nickel, ISA, Education minister, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Letter, Cobalt, House, News, Rare-earth element, Science, Pacific Ocean, United
In a letter to President Biden and the Pentagon, nine members of Congress urged the Administration to “keep all options on the table, including deep-sea opportunities, in assessing polymetallic nodules as a viable resource to secure critical minerals and close national security vulnerabilities.”
Key Points:
- In a letter to President Biden and the Pentagon, nine members of Congress urged the Administration to “keep all options on the table, including deep-sea opportunities, in assessing polymetallic nodules as a viable resource to secure critical minerals and close national security vulnerabilities.”
The news comes as American and allied auto and battery makers struggle to secure supplies of critical battery metals that comply with guidelines for incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. - Additionally, China dominates much of the international critical mineral supply chain on land and is now ramping up focus on seafloor resources known to be the largest estimated source of metals like cobalt, nickel and manganese, presenting a national security vulnerability for the United States…Recently, China has taken aggressive and brazen steps to secure and process seabed resources of polymetallic nodules into strategic planning for national security.
- Currently, Chinese companies hold 5 out of 31 International Seabed Authority (ISA) contracts for exploration and development – more than any other country.”
In March, China’s state-owned newspaper China Daily recognized TMC’s leadership position in the industry and announced its intention to invest further into the development of technologies to responsibly and economically recover seafloor polymetallic nodules. - In reply, Secretary Granholm confirmed, “Ongoing R&D on critical battery minerals processing through the DOE Office of Science and the Advanced Manufacturing Office is applicable to potential U.S. domestic processing and refining of metallic marine nodules...DOE is continuing to work with interagency partners to consider all potential sources of critical minerals for the supply chain including the role that seabed nodules could play in the future.”