Pacific nations are rethinking the deep-sea mining of their vast undersea mineral deposits, with some favouring environmental safeguards and others turning to Beijing.
It comes as the Trump administration is seeking to bypass U.N. regulations to accelerate deep-sea mining for critical minerals like nickel and cobalt, aiming to reduce reliance on China amid surging EV demand.
In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order prioritising U.S. leadership in seabed mapping and mineral exploration, aiming to ensure reliable access to critical minerals like manganese, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements, which are used in everything from defence systems and batteries to smartphones and medical devices….
Pacific Nations Split on Deep-Sea Mining as US Pushes to Curb China’s Critical Minerals Dominance
