The Trump administration is considering undersea mining of critical minerals near Virginia, USA.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is currently evaluating the company’s application and will launch a 30-day public comment period to discuss the impacts and benefits of opening up the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf for seabed mining. The proposal has been criticized by the environmental organization Center for Biological Diversity, which pointed out that seabed mining would harm wildlife in ways that scientists do not yet fully understand.