The first offshore deep-sea mining lease sale in the United States’ history is scheduled for November 19, 2026, offering two lease areas offshore American Samoa totaling nearly 32 million acres for the recovery of critical minerals from the deep seabed. Details concerning Lease Sale PACM-1 can be found in the Marine Minerals Administration’s (MMA) Final Leasing Notice (FLN), which was published in the Federal Register on October 20, 2026.
Critical Minerals and the Deep Seabed. The term “critical minerals” captures a class of metals on which modern technology depends but whose supply is concentrated in a few foreign producers and difficult to replace. Much of the federal push is aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on China. The American Samoa sale targets polymetallic nodules – rocks that rest on the sea floor and contain critical minerals including cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, and nickel.
“Critical minerals are no longer just commodities; they are a vital strategic asset in global competition, essential for reaching our energy efficiency goals, strengthening our national defense, and securing domestic supply chains,” said acting MMA Director Mike Olsen in announcing the sale.
A First, in Context. Although interest in seabed mining has persisted for decades, a tangle of regulatory, technical, and diplomatic obstacles has prevented commercial deep-sea mining from taking place anywhere in the world. Lease Sale PACM-1 marks the first such sale in the nation’s history. While securing the Lease is a significant first step in securing the critical minerals, a winning bid does not authorize immediate mineral harvesting. Instead, a winning bid authorizes only preliminary activities such as mapping, after which a multi-stage regulatory process governs any actual exploration, testing, or commercial recovery.
The Lease Sale. The MMA will hold Lease Sale PACM-1 on Thursday, November 19, 2026. Two lease areas are being offered: OCS-P 0568 encompassing approximately 16.3 million acres and OCS-P 0569 encompassing approximately 15.2 million acres, nearly 32 million acres total.
The MMA, the office within the United States Department of the Interior that now holds the authorities and functions of the former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) under Secretarial Order 3451, greenlit the sale after first completing an environmental assessment as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact in October 2026.
How We Got Here. The upcoming sale follows two earlier developments. In an April 2025 Executive Order, President Trump called leadership in deep-sea science and technology “a core national security and economic interest,” and deep-sea mineral technology company Impossible Metals later requested the government open leasing offshore American Samoa, which is a territory of the United States located in the South Pacific. The MMA has also signaled that American Samoa is not a one-off: The government has expressed interest in offering critical mineral leases covering areas offshore the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Alaska, and Virginia.
Impact and What to Watch. Lease Sale PACM-1 faces active opposition. In August, Fa’asao Amerika Samoa and the Conservation Council for Hawaii, represented by Earthjustice, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, arguing that large-scale deep-sea mining will destroy habitats, pollute the waters, and harm local communities. Whether the sale proceeds on schedule, who bids, and how the pending litigation resolves will shape not only the future mineral development of offshore American Samoa but also the trajectory of the broader federal push to open United States waters to critical mineral recovery.
If you are considering participating in the sale, or your interests may be affected by it, contact Liskow attorneys Jana Grauberger, Margaret Chavez, and Katherine Fraser for more information.
“Critical minerals are no longer just commodities; they are a vital strategic asset in global competition, essential for reaching our energy efficiency goals, strengthening our national defense, and securing domestic supply chains,” said acting MMA Director Mike Olsen in announcing the sale.