Interior Issues Final Notice for First-Ever Offshore Mineral Lease Sale: Two Areas Off American Samoa Total About 31.5 Million Acres, Auction Set for November 19
The Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, on October 19 issued the Final Leasing Notice for the first Outer Continental Shelf minerals lease sale in U.S. history. The sale, designated PACM-1, covers two areas on the federal Outer Continental Shelf offshore American Samoa. The auction is scheduled for 9 a.m. Pacific time on November 19 at the Ventura County Fire Department Headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California; it will be closed to the public, live-streamed on the agency's website, and conducted as an oral ascending clock auction. The notice goes on public display in the Federal Register on October 20. The MMA was formed on July 10, 2026, by reunifying the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
The two areas lie roughly 150 to 240 miles from Pago Pago: OCS-P 0568 covers about 16,332,256 acres and OCS-P 0569 about 15,170,979 acres, together about 31.5 million acres. The target minerals are the nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese contained in seabed polymetallic nodules and ferromanganese crusts. The minimum bid is $3 million per area, with a bid deposit of 20 percent of the minimum bid, or $600,000 per area, due by November 5. The primary lease term is 20 years; rent is $0.00 per acre in years 0 through 5 and rises in steps thereafter. Royalties are 5 percent under an approved delineation or testing plan, and 2 percent for the first five years under an approved mining plan, rising to 5 percent after that.
Acting MMA Director Mike Olsen said: '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.' He added that MMA recognizes the ocean floor surrounding American Samoa carries cultural, economic and environmental significance, and that its priority remains guided by science, environmental review, and meaningful engagement with the people and leadership of American Samoa. On October 14, MMA signed a Finding of No Significant Impact and will not prepare a full environmental impact statement for the sale.
The department stated plainly that winning a bid and securing a lease, by itself, does not authorize mining; it authorizes only preliminary activities such as mapping. Physical exploration, testing and commercial harvesting must go through a multi-stage post-auction regulatory process. The sale originated with an unsolicited lease request filed by Impossible Metals on April 8, 2025.
Local opposition and the territorial governor's recommendations are also documented in the sale materials. American Samoa set a seabed-mining ban in its territorial waters by Executive Order 006-24 in 2024, and the territory's top elected leaders expressed unified opposition to commercial leasing in June 2025; the federal Outer Continental Shelf lies outside that ban's scope. On September 15, 2026, the governor sent Interior 14 recommendations, including protection of the tuna fisheries, environmental monitoring and revenue sharing. MMA replied on October 15 that it accepted the recommendations with qualification, while stating that existing law does not give it authority to share revenue with the territory and that it is working with Representative King-Hinds on the H.R. 10318 legislation. Separately, according to Earthjustice on August 18, 2026, Faʻasao Amerika Samoa and the Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in federal court in Hawaii, challenging its endangered-species conclusion in what Earthjustice called the first lawsuit over deep-sea mining in U.S. waters.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：海洋矿产管理局（MMA）发布的 PACM-1 租约出售两区块官方地图，OCS-P 0568 约1,633万英亩、OCS-P 0569 约1,517万英亩。美国内政部官方发布，公共领域。Photo: Official Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) map of the two Lease Sale PACM-1 areas, OCS-P 0568 (16,332,256 acres) and OCS-P 0569 (15,170,979 acres). U.S. Department of the Interior, public domain.
