Canada鈥檚 The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC) has taken a major step in its pursuit of deep-sea mining, announcing it has for a commercial recovery permit and two exploration licences under the US seabed mining code.
The company鈥檚 US subsidiary, TMC USA, filed the applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) and regulations set by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which collectively form the US seabed mining code.聽
The move comes just days after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to fast-track offshore mining, aiming to boost access to critical minerals despite strong opposition from environmental groups.
TMC鈥檚 two exploration licence applications cover a combined 199,895 square kilometres, while the commercial recovery permit covers 25,160 square kilometres within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a resource-rich swath of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. These areas include the company鈥檚 indicated and measured polymetallic nodule resources.
The zones hold 1.63 billion wet metric tonnes of SEC SK 1300-compliant nodules, with an estimated exploration upside of 500 million tonnes, according to the company.
The resource is projected to contain 15.5 million tonnes of nickel, 12.8 million tonnes of copper, 2 million tonnes of cobalt, and 345 million tonnes of manganese 鈥� metals critical for batteries, clean energy, infrastructure and defence applications.
鈥淭his marks a major step forward 鈥� not just for TMC USA, but for America鈥檚 mineral independence and industrial resurgence,鈥� CEO Gerard Barron said in a statement. 鈥淲e鈥檙e offering the US a shovel-ready path to new and abundant supplies of critical metals.鈥�
The Trump administration views deep-sea mining as a strategic route to reduce dependence on foreign mineral supply chains. A White House official suggested the industry could generate up to 100,000 jobs and add hundreds of billions to the economy over the next decade.
Hurdles remain
The company鈥檚 ambitions are not without controversy. Environmentalists have long warned that the impacts of deep-sea mining are poorly understood. Critics argue more scientific research is needed before any commercial extraction begins, citing risks to fragile ecosystems and ocean biodiversity.
Supporters counter that deep-sea mining is essential to meet rising global demand for minerals. The International Energy Agency (IEA) will grow by 40% in the coming years, driven by clean technology and electrification.
TMC has pledged to mitigate environmental damage by leaving at least 30% of its contract areas untouched. The company also claims its modern nodule collector disturbs only the top three centimetres of seabed sediment, far less than earlier technologies.
Still, TMC鈥檚 application could reignite tensions at the international level. The company has been operating in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone for years under exploration contracts backed by the UN-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA), which governs mining in international waters. But the US is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and TMC鈥檚 move to seek approval under US law may be seen as sidestepping international consensus.
Critics warn such actions could undermine more than a decade of negotiations aimed at finalizing global regulations for seabed mining, potentially setting a precedent for other countries or companies to bypass multilateral frameworks.