The UK says that the transfer of mining permits in the depths of the seas may lead to a review of security

Open the newsletter to watch the White House for free

Your guide to what the American elections mean 2024 for Washington and the world

The UK government pays the local buyer to undertake the mining licenses in the depths of the seas that sponsor in the Pacific Ocean, as it seeks to move forward in the global race of precious minerals at the sea floor.

Loke Marine Minerals in Norway, which owns the sea floor resources in the United Kingdom, applied for bankruptcy earlier this month after struggling to collect capital. This auction process for government -backed exploration permits in the United Kingdom began.

The transfer of licenses can be reviewed under the UK National Security Investment Law, and a business and commercial official wrote earlier this month in an email, seen in the Financial Times, to the CEO of Luke Walter Soninis.

The official said that the ownership of a Norwegian primary company for UKSR will be a “problem”, adding: “We strongly suggest that it be restructured as a holding company in the United Kingdom as a priority.”

The law gives government powers to audit and interfere in commercial transactions to protect national security. The UK’s Business and Trade Administration refused to comment.

Locke said the royal structure was a matter of discussion by the “new owner of UKSR” and the UK government.

This step is the latest sign of renewed interest in competing for battery minerals, including nickel, cobalt and copper at the bottom of the sea, after signs by US President Trump in the last weeks he wants The emerging emerging pathway.

Under the current regulations, mining exploration licenses at the sea floor at international waters must be supported or sponsored by the countries that have been ratified by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This aims to ensure that companies, which are not directly bound by the treaty, still support high standards.

China is expected to dominate the sea floor sector, as it sponsors more exploration licenses in international waters than any other country. But Norway has set plans to become The first country in the world To perform the depths of the depths of the seas on a commercial scale in its national waters.

In contrast, countries that include the United Kingdom, France and Germany have surrounded their bets on the future of exploring the sea floor as they are trying to balance the environmental opposition with efforts to enhance critical metal supply chains in Europe.

They are among the countries that sponsor the contracts allocated by the actual organizer, the International Sea Football Authority, which is based in Jamaica, to explore the sea floor under international waters, including the Pacific Ocean.

At the same time, countries argue that very little is not known about the effects of mining on plants and animals in the depths of the seas to move forward.

Although geopolitical interest in minerals at the sea floor is increasing, the industry has struggled to attract capital, as senior miners are reluctant to signing infiltration agreements amid an increase in minerals, including nickel.

There is also an uncertainty about the organizational parking of the industry and where the minerals are treated at the sea floor.

ISA last year told Loke’s CEO that UKSR is “at risk of not complying with” exploration contracts, according to correspondence in FT. UKSR was sold by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin to Locke in 2023.

The entity also failed to license fees, according to the people familiar with the matter.

A person close to Locke said: “We were unable to collect capital, then run out of money,” he blamed the deliberations of the ISA member states for the future of the industry of the company that is behind its plans to conduct research in potential mining.

“It takes two to Tango … No international regulation took longer to reach this matter.”

The Greenpeace campaign Group obtained correspondence from ISA and the UK government when it recently entered the auction to provide bids for UK licenses, in a trick designed to prevent commercial mining in the depths of the seas from moving forward.

Non -profit institutions have been informed that other offers providers are among the founders of Locke and the Navy Technology Company in the United Kingdom, Technipfmc, which invested in Locke. Technipfmc did not respond to a comment.

Denkan Curie, a lawyer in “Al -Sakhriya” from the legal framework that governs reaching the sea floor, said that the contractors who were integrated into the sponsor country, but they are subject to control effectively by the mother company abroad.

Additional reports by Camilla Hodgson