U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) expressed their concerns as to the delayed implementation of the critical-mineral-focussed provisions contained in the Energy Act of 2020 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in letters to various Government departments.
The Metals Company supports the timely letters from Senators Manchin and Murkowski to the cabinet officials tasked with meeting U.S. strategic goals for critical minerals. The largest source of battery metals potentially available to the United States lies off the coast of the nation’s Western seaboard. Senator Murkowski and former U.S. military leaders previously wrote to Energy Secretary Granholm and Defense Secretary Austin, respectively, inquiring about the importance of polymetallic nodules unattached on the seafloor of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean. Further, deep-sea nodules offer one of the only chances to revive mineral processing in the United States, as highlighted by the Senators’ emphasis on the Defense Production Act. The Metals Company stands ready to contribute to help the U.S. realize secure supplies of critical minerals like nickel by collecting and processing polymetallic nodules in a responsible and timely manner.
