South China Morning Post
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Workers walk past lithium-filled bags at Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe’s processing plant in Goromonzi, about 80km (50 miles) from the capital Harare, on July 5. China’s dominance of the global rare earth supply chain and other metals essential to the clean energy transition has led some to see deep-sea mining as an urgent matter of national security. Photo: AP
Opinion
James Borton
James Borton

Why US national security and its green energy transition depend on mining seabed for rare minerals

  • The US can strengthen national security and increase economic output by onshoring the processing and refining of valuable minerals on the sea floor close to home
  • It should not rely on China for its supply of rare minerals for both sensitive military hardware and technologies required to fuel a sustainable future
James Borton
James Borton
Why you can trust SCMP

Despite the shift away from the social and environmental costs of land-based mining, nations and stakeholders at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) chose after intense debate to postpone making a ruling on the fate of the planet’s oceans until 2024.

The United-Nations-affiliated ISA – along with its 168 member nations plus the European Union, with their oceanic regulatory responsibilities and governance rules for the protection of the marine environment – believe that more time is needed for an ecological road map for mining the ocean floor.
Time is running out for securing a low-carbon future. Without the extraction of nickel from the ocean floor, there will be vast damage associated from the current land-based mining practices.

Deep-sea mining was at the centre of extensive debate leading up to this pivotal ISA meeting. In all, 21 governments and numerous non-governmental organisations called for either a ban or a moratorium on seabed mining.

The convergence of the mining voices was prompted by Nauru, a Pacific Island nation. In 2021, it announced its intention to transition from exploration to exploitation under a controversial two-year loophole, calling for an ISA ruling now to finalise and adopt regulations for deep-sea mining.

Greenpeace activists hold a protest demanding an end to deep-sea mining, in front of the Ministry of Industry in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 1. The banner reads: “The seabed is my home. Do not destroy it.” Photo: Reuters
“The clean energy transition is happening now and we have a decision to make – do we take our energy future into our own hands or do we continue to allow China to dominate the battery supply chain that will fuel the US electric vehicle fleet?” asked Craig Skesky, chief financial officer of the Metals Company, a Canada-based mining company.

The United States has the power to strengthen national security and increase economic output by onshoring the primary processing and refining of these valuable minerals on the sea floor relatively close to the US mainland.

It can secure supply and achieve mineral independence in key battery metals, support domestic companies and drastically reduce the environmental and social impact that currently plagues geopolitically complex material supply chains controlled by China, seen in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In March, the Metals Company released a report from third-party research firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence which showed its NORI-D seabed mining project in Nauru could outperform land-based mining in several environmental impact areas.

Mining the seabed in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, which spans about 5,000km across the central Pacific Ocean, will help the world meet its climate targets as more consumers demand electric vehicles and nickel is required to store energy in EV batteries.

These minerals also play a valuable role in the US economy, contributing to industries such as transport, defence, aerospace, electronics, energy, construction and healthcare.

6 of the world’s 10 biggest EV battery makers are now Chinese

The US should no longer rely on China for its supply of rare minerals to be used for both sensitive military hardware and technologies required to fuel a sustainable future. This is particularly pressing since China holds five out of 31 ISA deep-sea mineral exploration contracts.
If the future of American vehicles is electric, then Beijing already stands to dominate the battery supply chain. In addition, the International Energy Agency expects demand for cobalt, copper, nickel and rare earth elements to at least double within the next 20 years.

The US lost its way after Congress passed the Marine Resources and Engineering Act in 1966, seeking to advance ocean research, resources development and meteorological prediction. US president Richard Nixon proposed a commission to create a national action plan to mine ocean minerals, but it never gained traction because of the high costs and lack of technology.

Now US companies are reluctant to make that investment in seabed mining because of the risk their activities would not withstand a legal challenge. Conversely, foreign companies from countries which are members of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – including China – have access to the international bodies that grant legal claims to operate in the deep seabed area.

Coral on Moore Reef in Gunggandji Sea Country off the coast of Queensland in eastern Australia. The United Nations body that regulates the world’s ocean floor has postponed until next year a decision that could open the international seabed for mining, including for materials vital for the green energy transition. Conservationists worry that ecosystems will be damaged by mining. Photo: AP
While the US Congress is considering how to act on this national security interest, it might also wish to explore ratifying UNCLOS since the treaty considers all deep-sea minerals collected in areas beyond national jurisdictions to be available for everyone’s use and benefit. In addition, US Representative Ed Case of Hawaii recently introduced a bill aimed at prohibiting certain mining activities on the deep seabed and outer continental shelf.

Marine and policy experts from around the world have invoked science in calling for a pause or complete halt to seabed mining, but it is essential to close the gap on available knowledge about mining’s impact on marine biology and the environment.

A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology exploration study found that plumes of seabed sediment stirred up by collector vacuums might do less damage to marine ecosystems than initially believed. With the emergence of technology that allows robots to collect nodules of rare metals from the ocean floor, there is the prospect of less damage to the seabed.

While there are still questions about the cost and environmental impact of the search for new sources of rare metals, a green future is unlikely if there are insufficient minerals to power the demand for electric vehicles and reduce carbon emissions.

James Borton is a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins/SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and the author of Dispatches from the South China Sea: Navigating to Common Ground

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