Lockheed Martin Corporation’s Deep Seabed Licenses: NOAA’s Role in U.S. Seabed Mining and Critical Mineral Access
Deep seabed mining focuses on recovering critical minerals from the ocean floor. These resources—such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements—are essential for many modern technologies, including defense systems, batteries, smartphones, and medical devices. Because these minerals are used across so many industries, securing steady access to them is increasingly seen as an…