United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to "expedite" permits for deep-sea mining and to report on opportunities along the Outer Continental Shelf of the United States, according to the White House.
The order focuses on developing domestic exploration, as well as collection and processing capabilities. Its aim is to enable the country to explore the more than 1 billion metric tons of deep-sea nodules, which contain key minerals such as cobalt, manganese and copper.
