Company Seeks Trump’s Approval To Mine Metals On Pacific Seabed

A seabed mining company has asked the Trump administration for approval to extract critical metals from the ocean floor in international waters regulated by a United Nations-affiliated organization, Todd Woody reported for Bloomberg News.

Vancouver-based TMC holds two licenses from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to prospect for cobalt, nickel, and other metals found in polymetallic nodules. I Photo: The Metals Company / Business Wire

The Metals Company (TMC) has “officially requested a pre-application consultation” with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and has also met with White House officials, the firm stated.

If Trump’s administration approves the company’s request for a mining license in the Pacific Ocean, it could disrupt more than a decade of negotiations to establish regulations permitting seabed mining.

Vancouver-based TMC holds two licenses from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to prospect for cobalt, nickel, and other metals found in polymetallic nodules—potato-sized rocks that blanket the ocean floor by the billions from Hawaii to Mexico, in a region known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

However, TMC and other ISA-licensed companies cannot begin mining until international regulations are finalized.

“This would be a very serious challenge to multilateralism and could trigger a free-for-all that extends far beyond deep-sea mining, affecting freedom of navigation, maritime boundaries, and fisheries management,” said Duncan Currie, an international lawyer and legal advisor to the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

The alliance consists of more than 130 environmental groups and other nongovernmental organizations. TMC, in a separate statement, insisted that it “remains fully compliant with international law.” Currently, the ISA regulates 54% of the global seabed under its jurisdiction.