🌱 What are the plans of The Metals Company?
The Metals Company (TMC) plans to be the first company to mine the deep-sea. The company has exploratory permits for the deep-sea that it was granted by International Seabed Authority (ISA) in 2011 and 2012. The company is now, however, looking to fully commercialize its mining operations. It wants to commercially mine the seabed in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific. In light of this, TMC previously triggered a clause known as the “two-year rule” and indicated that it planned to apply to the ISA for a mining permit in June 2025. This was planned despite no mining rules being put in place yet by the ISA.
🌱 What role does the U.S. play in these plans?
Given that it was not granted a mining permit by the ISA, TMC is now seeking to circumvent the ISA process. It plans to do this by applying to mine exclusively through U.S. regulations. The company’s plans have been supported by the Trump administration. Trump agreed to fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining through the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in March 2025 and he signed an executive order on offshore mining on 24 April 2025. While trying to get a permit through the U.S., TMC plans to keep its exploration licenses with the ISA.
🌱 Why was an investigation launched?
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea from 1982 (UNCLOS), the deep-sea outside of countries’ territories is the “common heritage of humankind”. This means that no individual country or company alone can decide to interfere with the deep-sea. In line with this, the ISA members have rejected the plans of TMC and the Council of the ISA launched an investigation into TMC for possible non-compliance in July 2025. TMC says its relevant subsidiaries – namely Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI) and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML) – are fully compliant with their contracts with the ISA. Moreover, TMC also says that: “[a]ll TMC subsidiaries operate legally under international law and under national laws of their respective jurisdictions”. In addition, NORI says that it has done more research into the deep-sea than any other contractor in the sector has.
🌱 What does this investigation entail?
Through its ongoing investigation, the ISA hopes to establish “the facts and the law in what is a very complex situation”. In March 2026, the Council of the ISA will then meet to decide what to make of these findings. In practice, if the ISA finds TMC to be non-compliant, it could suspend or terminate the exploration contracts that TMC already has through its subsidiaries.
🌱 What is likely to happen next?
Experts warn that both the health of global fisheries and the rule of law at sea are being put at risk through TMC’s plans to commence with seabed mining. There are, however, several reasons to believe that TMC would struggle to mine the seabed, even if it got a permit under U.S. regulations. Lawsuits challenging the seabed mining are expected in Hawaii – which is located the closest to the CCZ. Moreover, TMC may also face hurdles as it is dependent on Allseas – a Swiss and Dutch company – for mining technology. This is relevant as the Swiss government is thought to be “highly unlikely” to permit Allseas to contract and supply equipment in ways that contradict the ISA. Additionally, if TMC were to gain a permit through U.S. regulations, it would have to process the mined cobalt and nickel in the U.S. This processing has, notably, to date typically been done in China – meaning a new processing facility would have to first be built in the U.S.
Read more about the investigation here:
- https://sdg.iisd.org/news/isa-council-to-engage-in-intersessional-work-on-deep-sea-mining-code/