Investing.com -- Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (NASDAQ:OMEX) stock rose 5.7% Friday after the ocean exploration company announced it had submitted a request for offshore mineral exploration and development rights to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The company’s request to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) targets an area off the Mid-Atlantic coast that Odyssey believes contains valuable heavy mineral sands with titanium, zirconium, rare earth elements, and phosphate. These materials are critical for U.S. manufacturing, defense, and agriculture sectors.
"U.S. waters hold tremendous strategic resource potential, and if Odyssey is successful in obtaining the proposed lease, it will represent another step in Odyssey’s strategy to expand its diverse portfolio and unlock new seafloor resource opportunities," said Mark Gordon, Chairman and CEO of Odyssey Marine Exploration.
The company stated that if granted the lease, it would first collect environmental and geological data before potentially moving forward with shallow-water dredging operations. Odyssey noted it selected the proposed area to avoid sensitive habitats, marine protected areas, and active maritime zones.
Odyssey’s efforts could be enhanced by its recent collaboration with Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), the largest dredging contractor in the U.S. The company has been pre-qualified by BOEM to hold mineral leases since 2021.
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