- The Metals Company (TMC) has announced that it is in discussions with U.S. regulators to apply for an exploration license and commercial recovery permit under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), a U.S. law that oversees deep-sea mining activities.
- This move could serve as an alternative to TMC seeking approval from the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-mandated body overseeing deep-sea mining in international waters, that has previously issued exploration licenses to the company.
- However, legal experts warn that if TMC is able to move forward with its plans, it would be in violation of international law and strain relations with Pacific communities.
- While TMC argues that deep-sea mining is vital for U.S. national security and mineral independence, critics warn of irreversible ecological damage and financial risks.
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow.
Canadian deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company (TMC) has announced it “initiated a process” with U.S. regulators to apply for both exploration and exploitation licenses, potentially circumventing the international regulator. TMC’s process with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration falls under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA), which was established as an interim legal framework for the recovery of seabed mineral resources prior to the creation of an international regulatory framework under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
A spokesperson for NOAA, who declined to be named, confirmed that TMC had requested to initiate a pre-application consultation process.
TMC made the announcement via a press release and a public-facing investor call just before the conclusion of the latest meeting of the 36-member council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-affiliated regulator responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in international waters. For the past two weeks, ISA delegates have been working to finalize the mining code — a set of rules, regulations and procedures that would allow deep-sea mining to proceed on the high seas — which they’d aimed to complete this year, based on a loose deadline set in 2023. However, observers say the mining code remains far from finished, with unresolved issues including how to distribute royalty payments and how to protect the environment. Even TMC’s CEO, Gerard Barron, who had previously expressed confidence that the ISA would adopt the mining code by its deadline, acknowledged the possibility of continued delays.
Despite these setbacks, TMC has asserted that the ISA’s failure to complete the mining code doesn’t hinder the company’s readiness to proceed with deep-sea mining. It also cited support from “numerous officials” in the White House and U.S. Congress.
Some of the most vocal U.S. supporters of deep-sea mining include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and House Representatives Elise Stefanik and Rob Wittman. Lutnick was the long-time chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, one of TMC’s leading bankers, before becoming head of the commerce department, which includes NOAA. Barron has previously said that Trump’s “America First” policy will be good for his company.
The New York Times also reported that drafts of an executive order authorizing the plan were already circulating, awaiting Trump’s signature.
TMC has previously promoted that it also applied for a $9 million grant under the U.S. government’s Defense Production Act Title III program for “feasibility work on a domestic refinery for nodule-derived intermediate products.” However, TMC made no mention of this grant application in its latest investor call.
“We have amassed an unprecedented wealth of environmental impact data, have gone above and beyond to design a system that minimizes environmental impacts, and feel confident that we now know enough to get started and prove we can manage environmental risks,” Barron said during the investor call. “What we need is a fair hearing and a regulator willing to engage. Thankfully, we have another path forward.”
TMC, a Vancouver-based company that went public on the Nasdaq exchange in 2021, has been pushing to launch the deep-sea mining industry in international waters. If the company is successful, it could be the first to obtain a commercial exploitation license in international waters. Its preferred target is polymetallic nodules — potato-shaped rocks rich in commercially valuable metals like copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt — found in a large swathe of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The company initially positioned these nodules as essential for the green transition since some electric vehicle batteries use these same minerals. However, TMC recently shifted its focus to U.S. national security, arguing that deep-sea mining could help secure a critical mineral supply independent of China.
Critics, however, say that deep-sea mining would cause irreversible harm to the environment, while being financially unviable and unnecessary, as land-based sources and recycling could meet global demand for critical minerals.
Barron said the U.S. has an existing legal framework that could enable deep-sea mining and that there’s “political will to put existing authorities to use.” He announced that TMC will submit applications through its newly rebranded U.S. subsidiary, The Metals Company USA (formerly DeepGreen Resources), in the second quarter of this year to advance toward commercial production. The NOAA spokesperson said that only U.S. companies, including subsidiaries based in the United States, are eligible for a license.
The legal basis for the U.S. issuing licenses for mining in international waters remains a gray area. The U.S. is one of about a dozen countries that have signed but not ratified UNCLOS. This means the U.S. lacks decision-making authority at the ISA and can’t sponsor companies or apply for licenses for areas in international waters through the ISA. But according to Barron, who recently referenced his company’s plans in a documentary, it also means that the ISA has no power over what the U.S. decides to do.
NOAA has previously issued four exploration licenses under DSHMRA, but only two remain active, both in the CCZ and held by aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin. In 2022, Lockheed Martin renewed these licenses for another five years. Email communications between NOAA and Lockheed Martin from July 15, 2024 and February 25, 2025, obtained by Mongabay, show no indication that Lockheed intends to relinquish its current licenses. Lockheed Martin previously stated that it would only pursue mining activities in its licensed areas once the ISA finalizes its mining code. Mongabay reached out to Lockheed Martin for comment but didn’t receive a response by the time of publication.
TMC previously stated that its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), sponsored by the Pacific island nation of Nauru, would submit an exploitation application to the ISA on June 27, 2025. This timing would align with a meeting of the ISA’s Legal and Technical Commission, the body responsible for recommending the approval of mining contracts. TMC also holds another ISA exploration license through its subsidiary Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML), sponsored by Tonga.
It remains unclear in which area of the CCZ TMC would pursue a U.S. license.
During the investor call, TMC’s chief financial officer, Craig Shesky, suggested the company still intends to file an application for the NORI license area in June 2025 but has “not yet determined with which regulator.”
“So even after a U.S. application is launched, we still retain the NORI and TOML exploration contracts, and we fully intend on remaining compliant with the requirements of those ISA contracts,” Shesky said. He added that TMC’s relationships with Nauru and Tonga are on “excellent” terms.
U.S.-based environmental attorney and independent ocean policy consultant Bobbi-Jo Dobush said Shesky’s comments seemed to imply that TMC might apply for mining licenses via NOAA for the same areas it currently holds under ISA contracts, which she says would be a “wild” move, if it does happen.
“The U.S. doesn’t have any agreement with the ISA, so TMC could technically claim an area already allocated to a Chinese contractor via the U.S. system if it wanted to,” Dobush, who is currently in Kingston, Jamaica, for the ISA council meeting, told Mongabay. “But what it actually wants to do is claim what it already has.”
Duncan Currie, an international and environmental lawyer who advises the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), a coalition of groups that advocates against deep-sea mining, said such a move would be a “clear breach” of UNCLOS, which specifies that no state can exercise sovereignty over the “area” — that is, the parts of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction — and its resources.
“It would be an extremely concerning development, I think, both from the point of view of the integrity of UNCLOS as well as the Pacific,” Currie, who is also currently at the ISA meeting, told Mongabay. “One of my overall real concerns of this, no matter where it goes, is the whole threat is extremely insulting and concerning to the Pacific, because … they’ve been leant on, pushed, cajoled, for the last few years.”
On the last day of the ISA, newly elected secretary general Leticia Carvalho echoed Currie sentiment, telling the council that any unilateral action would undermine the principles of multilateralism and international law.
While TMC has suggested that obtaining licenses and permits through NOAA would be a smoother process than going through the ISA, it acknowledged some hurdles in the annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it submitted on March 27. In it, the company said there were “no assurances” it will secure exploration licenses or commercial recovery permits under the DSHMRA in a timely or economically viable manner. It also noted that NOAA has not granted commercialization rights for seafloor nodule production, and that provisions under UNCLOS or other ISA regulations might prevent them from pursuing this alternative regulatory pathway simultaneously.
Mongabay did not receive a response from TMC by the time of publication.
NOAA sent Mongabay an official statement after the initial publication of this article, which reconfirmed TMC’s request for a pre-application consultation and the eligibility of U.S. companies. It also said: “NOAA’s National Ocean Service reviews these applications for compliance and requirements in accordance with the act and regulations. The process ensures a thorough environmental impact review, interagency consultations and opportunity for public comment. Licensing and permitting involves a multi-step process before any exploration activities or commercial recovery can occur.”
Update 3/29/25: This story has been updated to include a statement NOAA sent Mongabay on March 29 and information about New York Times reporting on drafts of an executive order authorizing TMC’s plan.
Banner image: Greenpeace activists from New Zealand and Mexico confront TMC’s deep-sea mining vessel, “Hidden Gem,” off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico, in 2022. Image by © Gustavo Graf / Greenpeace.
Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a senior staff writer for Mongabay and a fellow with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. Follow her work on Bluesky: @elizabethalberts.bsky.social
Credits
This story first appeared on Mongabay
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Mongabay, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
