tion and maintaining our traditional economic 
principles. 
—The method should rely on the stimulus of 
private initiative. However, in rare cases it may be 
in the National interest for the Government to 
sponsor exploration. Since there would be no 
private investment in such exploration, leasing 
procedures similar to those in the OCS Lands Act 
appear appropriate. 
—A degree of flexibility in management must be 
allowed, because so little is known about the 
pattern of future developments and because the 
potential resources are so different in character. 
This will enable policies to be adjusted for 
different minerals or for special situations; how- 
ever, the policies must be clear and certain. 
—The high risk inherent in hard mineral explora- 
tion should be mitigated by assuring that pros- 
pectors may exploit their discoveries. 
—The method should provide a reasonable eco- 
nomic return to the public for the use of public 
lands and data, but its primary objective should 
not be to maximize income from rents, royalties, 
or bonuses, but rather to maximize ocean mining 
activity. A greater ultimate return to the Nation 
will result from the development of a healthy 
industry contributing to employment, tax rev- 
enues, foreign exchange, and the Gross National 
Product. 
—The method should recognize that the Bureau of 
Land Management, the lessor of U.S. outer Conti- 
nental Shelf lands, faces competition with other 
nations offering development rights to their off- 
shore lands on terms attractive to U.S. capital. 
Recommendation: 
When deemed necessary to stimulate exploration, 
the Department of the Interior should be permit- 
ted to award rights to hard minerals on the outer 
Continental Shelf without requiring competitive 
bidding. 
The panel recommends that any U:S. citizen or 
company should be free to conduct preliminary 
exploration on the continental shelves for minerals 
on a non-exclusive basis. A requirement to give the 
Department of the Interior notification of intent, 
however, will allow this freedom while still permit- 
ting Interior to carry out its responsibilities as 
manager of the resources. A system that inhibits 
early reconnaissance exploration should be 
avoided. 
If the prospector’s interest is kindled by his 
preliminary exploration or by other means, he 
should be able to obtain exclusive rights for 
further exploration convertible to exploitation 
rights. A concession system similar to those 
successfully practiced in several foreign countries 
appears to be a suitable method for awarding such 
rights while protecting the public interest. Such a 
concession system should: 
—Assign exclusive exploration rights for hard 
minerals that could be converted to exploitation 
rights at the prospector’s option. Normally conces- 
sions are awarded to the first qualified applicant. 
—Clearly define the terms of exploration and 
exploitation before exploration begins. 
—Discourage speculative holding of offshore lands 
through various combinations of such require- 
ments as: an initial fee; minimum investment in 
exploration or development within specified 
periods of time; rental payments increasing at 
periodic intervals during the exploration phase; 
and stipulation that a given acreage be returned 
periodically until exploitation commences. 
—Provide for rental or royalty payments during 
the exploitation phase. 
—Provide for return of any portion of the conces- 
sion acreage at the option of the concession 
holder. 
The preceding discussion has centered around 
the Federal lands on the outer continental shelves. 
The State methods for assigning property rights to 
submerged lands are of equal and perhaps greater 
importance, since early mining activity probably 
will take place predominantly in the shallow 
waters close to shore. 
Some coastal States now have a reasonable 
system for assigning exploration and exploitation 
rights. Most States, however, have no laws at all or 
have inappropriate laws drafted for other pur- 
poses. It is recommended that the States adopt 
methods to assign offshore solid mineral rights 
