President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, marking his latest attempt to boost U.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy.

President Donald Trump is trying to fast track a brand new, highly controversial industry – mining critical minerals in the deep sea.

The order will likely fast track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters and let mining companies bypass a United Nations-backed review process, Reuters previously reported. Shares of The Metals Company - among the most prominent of deep-sea mining companies - rose on Thursday by roughly 40% to hit a 52-week high of $3.