Bottom line: Deep sea mining is a financial investment

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Deep-Sea Mining Public Forum exploring the risks, rewards, and realities for American Samoa delivered its message simple and direct — it’s an economic / financial investment. And like any investment, before you make a decision to buy stock or support it or not, you need to look at the facts or data, disseminate, and know what risks are involved.

The public forum that took place Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, was hosted by the Office of the Governor, AS Resilience Office, and the Deep-Sea Mining Task Force at the Gov. H. Rex Lee Auditorium.

It comes as the deadline looms for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) comment period of the Request for Information (RFI) for the commercial leasing proposal submitted by the Department of Interior (DOI) — August 16, 2025 (extended period from July 16, 2025) after U.S.-based Impossible Metals applied to BOEM for a deep-sea mining lease sale near American Samoa in April 2025.

Forum presenters were Scott Vincent, President of Critical Ocean Minerals Research Center, Oliver Gunasekara, CEO, Impossible Metals, and Victor L. Vescovo, undersea explorer and co-founder of Insight Equity (a private investment company).

Open to the public, the event was streamed live with Mr. Vincent on the East coast, Mr. Gunasekara in L.A., and Mr. Vescovo from Iceland. The two-hour forum was moderated by Mr. Michael McDonald, a member of the the Deep-Sea Mining Task Force, who also works at Port Administration.

Each of the men were given the same amount of time to deliver their presentation, and at the end of each of their presentations the public asked questions, both online and through email, or in-person.

McDonald at the end of the Forum reminded residents that the RFI comment period ends soon, but the process, that includes scientific evaluation, public engagement, and environmental stewardship is a lengthy one, taking up to two years at minimum. 

Some Points From the Forum Presentations

KVZK-TV televised the event live, and the Forum can be seen on YouTube for details. Samoa News offers some key points from the Forum’s presentations it attended noting that residents who attended the event, while not overwhelming in number, were engaged.

For example, they raised the issue of animation being used to illustrate DSM, instead of live footage during the presentation, or the lack of a legal framework for promises that are being made to American Samoa, and DSM’s affect on the territory’s food security as its people live off the ocean.

Some Points

Vincent and Gunasekara each own companies that are the major US investors in the deep sea mining (DSM) venture that affects American Samoa. It’s Impossible Metals (IM) that has applied to BOEM for a commercial lease to mine for nodules in deep sea waters near American Samoa.

Vincent began his presentation by acknowledging that his company is a private investment company, and it’s investing in DSM to make money for its investors — shareholder benefits are key.

In support of their DSM investment, he made a comparison to mining on-land (terrestrial mining) to deepsea mining, saying the amount of damage to the environment is “not as much” to ocean biomass and biodiversity, and it doesn’t affect humans the way terrestrial mining does, i.e. moving people off their land, water run-off, etc.

He spoke of the ‘nodule’ DSM equipment IM has chosen to use as “non-invasive” to the deepsea environment, focusing on the “highly localized impact” it would have as it picks up the nodules that lie on the seabed versus the harvester effect which basically vacuums the seabed.

Vincent explained that terrestrial mining and DSM will co-exist, but he sees less dependence with TM and its damaging effects if DSM is developed.

All three presenters spoke of the current available data on DSM — it is from studies/ research done in international waters, and currently there’s ‘not a lot’ based on the waters they're talking about mining near American Samoa.

Gunasekara opened his presentation with what he says the company is bringing to the table: 1% profit sharing from IM (a personal commitment); sharing federal revenue from mining lease; U.S infrastructure investment; and potential new higher paying jobs.

For environmental concerns, he said that IM commits to only mine if they are “satisfied that our environmental impact statements show there will be no material, long-lasting impacts on the marine habitat or other uses of the ocean (fishing, recreation, etc.).”

The IM CEO spoke of their choice of DSM equipment — the CCZ (Eureka IV) — the tests that they’ve been doing off the coast of Florida, and the equipment’s effect on the venture’s profit viability (unit economics). He noted that tech risks are a necessary risk.

Gunasekara pointed to the country of Norway and what they achieved by investing in off-shore oil & gas drilling, at a time when everyone was saying it’s not viable. He said Norway started off like American Samoa, where fishing was their key industry. It is now looking at having the world’s largest retirement fund for its people — “Lets unlock this new industry and become like Norway!” he exhorted.

Vescovo does not support the DSM venture pointing to his own deeps diving experience — he said he is the only one of three men that has actually dived to the depths that DSM will be affecting. “It’s a difficult and hostile environment,” he stated, no way do you “know” what will happen.

The partner in a private equity firm that’s also investing in space asteroid mining, Vescovo noted that the profit projections IM and COMRC are using are based on historical values, and the market for minerals that they set on mining are slumping, as well as the use of these minerals are changing, with new technology being developed in electric batteries, their use are becoming obsolete.

Vescovo said “demonstrated proof” is needed and there’s no urgency to the issue, do more research!

He believes that there are no “riches” in DSM for American Samoa.