Meet the company at the center of the U.S.–Cook Islands mining pact

The U.S. and Cook Islands struck a deal this month to cooperatively develop seabed minerals in the Pacific nation’s vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Given the Trump administration’s embrace of deep-sea mining, the Cook Islands seems a logical partner. Its government isn’t shy about the economic opportunity it sees on its seabed: Prime Minister Mark Brown has touted his country’s deep-sea nodules as “golden apples” waiting to be harvested. Official websites call them a “treasure trove.”

In stark contrast with Pacific island nations calling for a moratorium on deep seabed mining, the Cook Islands has granted exploration licenses to three companies. One of them is Moana Minerals, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Ocean Minerals.

The Spotlight spoke with CEO Hans Smit about his firm’s project and how it might fit into a broader U.S.-Cook Islands partnership.

The nodules

Like wine grapes, deep-sea nodules have a kind of terroir. Their appearance and chemistry vary by location. A connoisseur can tell on sight whether a nodule came from the Clarion Clipperton Zone (potato-shaped) or the Cook Islands (golf ball-shaped).

Smit said the Cook Islands nodules stand out for their high concentrations of rare earths. That’s notable because the U.S. is scrambling to source these metals in light of China’s recent export restrictions.

“Based on our current projections,” said Smit, “We can produce enough rare earths to satisfy the U.S. government’s Department of Defense needs.”

Still, he noted rare earths would provide just 5-10% of the project’s revenue. Cobalt, nickel, manganese and copper would comprise the rest. Rare earths, however, could be a hedge against low cobalt and nickel prices. And given rare earths’ role in the U.S.-China trade war, supplying them seems the politically savvy move.

(The Spotlight recently covered one of the few other deep-sea mining projects targeting rare earths.)

Smit was noncommittal about where his nodules would be processed. “ We currently are targeting Australia, Indonesia, and the United States as three areas of interest.”

Processing tends to be more lucrative than mining. But when it comes to rare earths, it’s a notoriously dirty business.

What comes next

Moana Minerals is midway through a 5-year exploration contract with the Cook Islands government. If all goes to plan, it could apply for commercial extraction in 2027.

That timeline faces opposition from Cook Islands environmental groups, including Te Ipukarea Society, which calls for a 10-year moratorium on seabed mining so more can be learned about potential environmental impacts.

But American mining firms see a political opening that may not last a decade. Smit said he’s long pushed for a U.S.-Cook Islands pact, but couldn’t make headway until this year: “Thanks to Donald Trump for making this front and center.”

Official details about the new agreement are sparse. But Smit said the U.S. will help collect environmental data in the Cook Islands EEZ, to guide both industry and its regulators.

The effort is set to start in October, when NOAA plans to deploy E/V Nautilus to the Cook Islands for seabed mapping.