内政部发布首个海底采矿租约出售最终通知：美属萨摩亚外海两区块约3150万英亩，11月19日拍卖
美国内政部（Department of the Interior）下属海洋矿产管理局（Marine Minerals Administration，MMA）10月19日发布美国史上首个外大陆架海底矿产租约出售的「最终租约出售通知」（Final Leasing Notice）。出售编号为 PACM-1，标的为美属萨摩亚外海联邦外大陆架的两区块，拍卖定于11月19日上午9时（太平洋时间）在 California 州 Thousand Oaks 的 Ventura County Fire Department Headquarters 闭门举行并在官网直播，采用口头升价时钟拍卖。最终通知10月20日在《联邦公报》公开展示。MMA 于2026年7月10日由海洋能源管理局（BOEM）与安全与环境执法局（BSEE）合并重组而成。
两区块距 Pago Pago 约150至240英里：OCS-P 0568 约16,332,256英亩，OCS-P 0569 约15,170,979英亩，合计约3,150万英亩。目标矿产为海底多金属结核与富锰结壳所含的镍、钴、铜、锰等关键矿产。每区块最低投标价300万美元，投标保证金为最低价的20%、即每区块60万美元，须于11月5日前缴纳；主租期20年，租金第0至5年为每英亩0美元，其后阶梯上升；权利金在划定与测试计划下为5%，采矿计划头5年为2%、其后为5%。
MMA 代理局长 Mike Olsen 表示：「关键矿产不再只是商品；它们是全球竞争中的重要战略资产，对实现能源效率目标、加强国防与保障国内供应链至关重要。」他同时表示，MMA 认识到美属萨摩亚周边海底具有文化、经济与环境意义，将以科学、环境审查以及同当地人民和领导层的实质沟通为优先。MMA 10月14日签署「无重大影响结论」，决定不就此次出售编制完整的环境影响报告。
内政部在通知中明确：中标取得租约本身不授权开采，仅授权测绘等初步活动；实地勘探、测试与商业开采须经过多阶段的后续审批程序。此次出售源于 Impossible Metals 2025年4月8日提出的非邀约租约申请。
当地反对与总督建议也在通知配套文件中呈现。美属萨摩亚2024年以行政令006-24在其领海设立海底采矿禁令，当地最高民选领导人2025年6月曾公开统一反对商业租赁；联邦外大陆架不在该禁令范围内。总督2026年9月15日向内政部提出14项建议，包括保护金枪鱼渔业、加强环境监测与收益分成；MMA 10月15日回复称「附条件接受」，但明确现行法律无权向领地分成收入，正配合众议员 King-Hinds 的 H.R. 10318 立法努力。另据 Earthjustice 2026年8月18日消息，Faʻasao Amerika Samoa 与 Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi 已在夏威夷联邦法院起诉国家海洋渔业局，挑战其濒危物种相关结论，为美国水域首例深海采矿诉讼。
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.
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：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.
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