The global energy transition increasingly depends on a small set of critical minerals essential for electrification, energy storage, and grid stability. As demand for cobalt, copper, manganese, and nickel outpaces existing supply chains, mineral availability has emerged as a key constraint on decarbonization. This article explores the role of these materials and examines deep-sea polymetallic nodules as a potential, multi-metal resource within a diversified supply strategy.

Land-based mining devastates ecosystems, pollutes water and soil, and endangers human health. Deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules could provide critical metals with lower human and carbon costs. Yet it poses ecological risks to poorly studied ocean floors, requiring careful research, engineering, and oversight to ensure sustainable, responsible resource extraction.

As demand for critical minerals surges—driven by clean energy, advanced electronics, and defense technology—the question of where we will source these materials is becoming increasingly urgent. Today, much of the world’s supply is controlled by China, creating major strategic and economic vulnerabilities. Deep-sea mining offers a potential solution. This piece explores why the United States must take a leadership role in shaping the future of seabed resource development—not through exploitation, but through responsible, transparent, and science-driven guidance.

Deep-sea mining is emerging as a potential alternative to traditional land-based mining, offering access to valuable metals found on the ocean floor — particularly in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific. These resources could support clean energy and advanced technology, but questions remain about the ecological cost. This article explores what deep-sea mining is, how it works, and the environmental debate surrounding it.

Polymetallic nodules are metal-rich rocks on the ocean floor that could power the future of clean energy and technology