Vancouver-headquartered The Metals Company (TMC), which is focused on deep-sea minerals exploration, is seeking approval from the U.S. government to extract critical minerals from the ocean floor in international waters managed by the United Nations’ (UN) International Seabed Authority (ISA). This move could enable TMC to bypass the ISA, which has yet to grant exploitation permits due to the absence of a deep-sea mining code. The UN-affiliated agency has been working to finalize a mining code for years.  

TMC currently holds two ISA licences to prospect for cobalt, nickel and other metals found in polymetallic nodules scattered across the ocean floor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a 4.5-million-square-kilometre area of the Pacific Ocean that is located between Hawaii and Mexico. For more than a decade, TMC has been exploring the Clarion-Clipperton Zone but will need a licence to begin mining in the area. 

Under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) of 1980, U.S. entities can explore and recover deep-sea minerals in international waters, which could provide TMC with a regulatory path forward to begin mining. In a statement issued by TMC on March 27, the company shared that under its U.S. subsidiary, it had formally launched a process with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce to apply for exploration licences and commercial recovery permits for deep-sea mining under DSHMRA. 

TMC stated that following extensive legal diligence on DSHMRA, NOAA’s implementing regulations and other applicable environmental protection legislation, it “strongly believes that the U.S. seabed mining code offers the greatest probability of securing a permit for commercial recovery of deep-sea mineral resources in a timely manner.” 

Reuters reported on March 31 that, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, the Trump administration is considering an executive order to fast-track deep-sea mining in international waters, which would allow companies to bypass the UN-backed review process. The order would likely declare the United States’ right to extract critical minerals from the ocean floor, allowing companies to apply for permits directly with the NOAA. This development comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump invoked emergency powers under the country’s Defense Production Act on March 20 to increase domestic production of critical minerals. 

TMC plans to extract polymetallic nodules, which contain cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese, from the ocean floor, which the company said could then be processed with minimal waste. The company, originally founded as DeepGreen Metals in 2011, seeks to use the minerals extracted from the nodules. 

“We believe we have sufficient knowledge to get started and prove we can manage environmental risks,” said Gerard Barron, chairman and chief executive officer of TMC, in the March 27 statement. “What we need is a regulator with a robust regulatory regime, and who is willing to give our application a fair hearing. After extensive legal review and constructive engagement with NOAA and other officials across the U.S. government, we believe the United States offers a stable, transparent and enforceable regulatory path.” Barron added that the company anticipates it will submit applications to NOAA in the second quarter of 2025. 

Although the ISA has already developed regulations for prospecting and exploring for three types of deep-sea minerals—polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulfides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts—it has spent several years working on a mining code specifically for the industrial extraction of polymetallic nodules.  

In 2021, the island nation of Nauru, a member state sponsoring TMC, triggered a two-year rule in the Law of the Sea treaty by applying for the approval of a plan of work for exploitation of seabed minerals in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. This provision meant that the ISA had to either expedite the development of the mining code or allow deep-sea mining to proceed without a formal mining code in place. Under the ISA framework, all mining contractors are required to be sponsored by an ISA member state in order to be granted an exploitation licence.  

An ISA council and assembly meeting was held in Kingston, Jamaica, in July 2024 with the intent of finalizing global regulations for seabed mining by 2025. The ISA recently convened in Kingston on March 17 to 28 for a council meeting, under the leadership of Leticia Carvalho, its newly appointed secretary general. While progress was made during the first part of its 30th session on March 28, the code has not yet been finalized. The council completed a reading of the draft exploitation regulations. 

A March 28 press release from the ISA noted that while substantial progress was made during the session, some key issues still require further discussion, such as the approval process and the pace of regulatory adoption. The release stated that Carvalho expressed deep concern at the council meeting about TMC’s plan to bypass the ISA to commence mining, emphasizing that the ISA holds exclusive jurisdiction over all activities in the international seabed area, which the ISA calls the “common heritage of humankind.” She stressed that any unilateral actions outside the ISA’s framework violate international law and weaken multilateral governance.  

According to the press release, Carvalho’s comments received strong support from numerous delegations, many of whom harboured similar concerns about TMC’s plans. Going forward, member states will continue to submit proposals to refine the remaining draft regulations, annexes and related documents. Discussions on standards and guidelines have begun, with further talks planned for the summer. 

The ISA has 169 member countries and the European Union, but the United States is not a member and has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the treaty that created the ISA. This treaty designated certain areas for mining, including specific reserved areas located within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, for the U.S. in the event that it eventually joins the convention.