BOEM completed the area identification (outlined in diagram above) for marine minerals offshore American Samoa. The full decision memorandum is attached.
In response to BOEM’s Request for Information, Impossible Metals confirmed their interest in the identified area. Several other companies also expressed interest. The Governor and a number of other parties submitted interesting comments, which are summarized on p. 2 of the attachment.
The first two steps in a process that could ultimately lead to a mineral lease sale have thus been completed. Steps 3 to 6 remain. (See below)
- Request for Information and Interest (RFI) published in the Federal Register. complete
- Identification of Areas to be considered for leasing. complete
- Environmental Analysis for the lease sale.
- Proposed Leasing Notice Published in the Federal Register.
- Leasing Notice Published in the Federal Register.
- Competitive Lease Sale
Meanwhile, Odyssey Marine has requested a critical minerals lease sale in the Atlantic.
The proposed lease area, located within the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS) off the Mid-Atlantic coast, is highly prospective for heavy mineral sands rich in titanium, zirconium, rare earth elements (REEs), and phosphate.
This would be a shelf dredging operation rather than the deepwater module collection being proposed for the Pacific.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 