Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands - The Northern Mariana Islands and Guam are opposed to the Trump administration's plan to lease out millions of hectares of nearby seabed for deep sea mining.

The Department of the Interior's Marine Mineral Administration (MMA) last Tuesday announced a proposal to auction off deep sea mining leases for 69 million acres of seafloor near the Mariana Trench.

Such leases will be used by major mining companies to conduct deep sea exploration and begin extracting critical minerals from beneath the surface.

While Guam is an unincorporated territory of the US, the Northern Mariana Islands is a self-governed commonwealth.

Migration Father of USS Abraham Lincoln sailor abducted by ICE while son deployed to Middle East

"Critical minerals are essential to America's national security, economic strength and resource sovereignty," acting MMA Director Matt Giacona said in a statement last week.

"The United States cannot afford to depend on foreign nations for the resources that power our economy and support our defense industrial base," he said.

"The Marine Minerals Administration is working to unlock the critical mineral potential of the US Outer Continental Shelf responsibly, transparently and with the rigorous environmental review the American people expect."

Northern Marianas Governor David Apatang expressed apprehension about the MMA proposal and said that he'll approach the issue "with extreme caution."

He demanded in a statement cited by the Guardian that no mining or exploration take place "without rigorous scientific baseline studies, complete transparency, and explicit protections for our marine resources."

Meanwhile, Guam Lieutenant Governor Joshua Tenorio said his administration is "unequivocally opposed to the deep sea mining efforts in this region."

"The department of interior is giving assurances that mining activity is not going to commence with the awarding of these licenses," Tenorio said.

"[But] I think that this is a matter where we can't really trust that because this has been rapidly evolving."