The Department of the Interior (DOI) is adopting new policies to speed up the exploration and development of critical minerals located offshore to strengthen U.S. supply chains and protect America’s energy, security, and tech needs, the agency said in a June 25 statement.
Critical minerals, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, include minerals like aluminum, chromium, cobalt, gallium, iridium, magnesium, neodymium, nickel, palladium, platinum, vanadium, and zinc.
According to the DOI, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), two agencies operating within the Interior Department, are updating mineral policies “across all stages of development,” right from early exploration to production and operations....
