The Marine Minerals Administration on Monday issued its Final Leasing Notice for sale PACM-1, the first offshore mineral lease sale in US history, offering two lease areas totalling about 31.5 million acres of seabed near American Samoa at an auction on November 19. Each area carries a minimum bid of 3 million dollars and a 20 year primary term, with production royalties of 2 percent for the first five years of commercial mining rising to 5 percent thereafter, and the areas hold potential deposits of polymetallic nodules and ferromanganese crusts containing nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese. Winning a lease would allow only preliminary work such as mapping and environmental surveys; exploration, testing and commercial extraction would need separate federal approvals, and environmental groups and American Samoa’s governor have pressed for stronger safeguards and monitoring.
US sets first deep-sea mining lease sale for November
The Interior Department's Marine Minerals Administration issued its final leasing notice on Monday for the first US offshore mineral lease sale, covering about 31.5 million acres near American Samoa with an auction on November 19.
Why it matters: The sale would open the US Outer Continental Shelf to deep-sea mineral leasing for the first time, targeting polymetallic nodules holding nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese, though leases alone would not authorise mining.
Data as of gCaptain report of October 19, 2026 on the Marine Minerals Administration final leasing notice; single source so far, hence grade C. The final notice is set for Federal Register publication on October 20, 2026. Developing item.
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- U.S. Sets First Deep-Sea Mining Lease Sale for November · gCaptain · 2026-10-19