The Electric: Trump Expedites Deep Sea Mining of Critical Minerals

Millions of these metals-rich nodules are strewn across the seafloor three miles below the surface of the Pacific. Photo: Carolyn Cole / L.A. Times/Getty

Steve LeVine

Startup Western mining companies got key U.S. support Wednesday in their yearslong effort to extract copper, cobalt and other key metals from the deep Pacific seabed, a move intended to accelerate non-Chinese supplies for tech and defense companies.