On Jan. 3, the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) became law with the inclusion of provisions directing the U.S. Department of Defense to submit a report to the House Armed Services Committee assessing the domestic processing of seafloor polymetallic nodules by March 1, 2024.

In the language attached to the newly approved Act, the Committee acknowledged the imperative of establishing a secure supply chain of critical and strategic minerals and materials and noted, “that to meet national security requirements the United States must have the ability to source critical minerals in innovative arenas to decrease reliance on sources from foreign adversaries.”

One of the potential areas for critical minerals is off-shore mine. The committee recognizes this and directs the Pentagon to produce a report which, among other things, outlines “a roadmap recommending how the United States can have the ability to source and/or process critical minerals in innovative arenas, such as deep-sea mining.”

Through the NDAA, the House Armed Services Committee has directed the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to submit a report to the Committee by March 1, 2024 “assessing the processing of seabed resources of polymetallic nodules domestically. The report shall include, at a minimum, the following: (1) a review of current resources and controlling parties in securing seabed resources of polymetallic nodules; (2) an assessment of current domestic deep-sea mining and material processing capabilities; and (3) a roadmap recommending how the United States can have the ability to source and/or process critical minerals in innovative arenas, such as deep-sea mining, to decrease reliance on sources from foreign adversaries and bolster domestic competencies.”

TMC the metals company Inc. an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, welcomed the passage of the law.

In a press release, The Metals Company wrote reported that tn November 2023, a bipartisan coalition led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) re-introduced a resolution calling on the U.S. Senate to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), arguing that “the longer we sit out, the longer the rest of the world will continue to set the agenda of maritime domain, from seabed mining to critical subsea infrastructure.” That same month, five Members of the US House of Representatives from Texas urged the Department of Defense to support the use of federal resources under the NDAA towards TMC’s feasibility study for nodule processing along the Texas Gulf Coast. In a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, Laura D. Taylor-Kale, the Members wrote: “The applicant seems to have the ability to produce battery-grade materials at commercial facilities in North America at pilot scale. The scope of the submission focuses solely on U.S. processing and appears to offer the Department of Defense the opportunity to re-shore critical mineral supply lines.”

In March last year, TMC Chairman and CEO Gerard Barron wrote to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, noting, “Support from the U.S. Government for the development of the polymetallic nodule resource and TMC’s first project, NORI-D, would unlock access to the resource without overcoming legislative hurdles to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

Photo: The Metals Company