Miners look to previously inaccessible areas
As a deep-sea American mining titan forms, Argentina relaxes rules for mining near glaciers.
The American Ocean Minerals Corporation merges with Odyssey Marine Exploration. This is reported to create one of the largest US-controlled critical minerals and rare-earth platforms focused on deep-sea exploration, harvesting and processing of polymetallic nodules.
The combined portfolio is said to span US-licensed international waters and allied sovereign waters, including two out of three exclusive licensed exploration areas in the critical mineral-rich Cook Islands.
The combined company is valued at ~US$1bln, and will be led by Chairman Tom Albanese, who formerly served as CEO of Rio Tinto Group, and CEO Mark Justh, with former roles at JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
This comes as an Argentinian Government reform is passed to promote mining investment in glacier regions.
The reform allows provinces to determine their own protection standards for glaciers and periglacial areas and is hoped to generate US$165bln in exports by 2035 and create thousands of jobs. The law takes effect once it is published in the official gazette.
