Canadian Deep-Sea Mining Firm Seeks US Permit Amidst Prolonged Global Talks

NEW YORK, 28 March 2025 (BSS/AFP) – A Canadian mining company aiming to be the first to undertake commercial seabed excavation in international waters has announced plans to seek authorisation from the United States, as prolonged international negotiations continue to stall.

Gerard Barron, Chief Executive Officer of The Metals Company, stated, "We believe the United States offers a stable, transparent, and enforceable regulatory path." His comments come amid ongoing deliberations at the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA), which has been struggling for over a decade to establish a global framework for seabed mining.

Barron explained that the decision to seek approval under US law was driven by the "repeated failures" of the ISA to finalise a comprehensive mining code. "It is our strong belief that this path offers the greatest probability of receiving a commercial permit to begin operations in a timely manner," he said during a conference call.

The Metals Company had previously announced in late 2024 that it intended to apply for the world’s first commercial seabed mining permit from the ISA through its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), by 27 June 2025. The company aims to extract polymetallic nodules—rock-like mineral deposits containing valuable metals such as cobalt, manganese, nickel, and copper—from the seabed of the Pacific Ocean.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the ISA is responsible for regulating mineral extraction in international waters. However, the authority has thus far only issued exploration licences and has yet to finalise a legal framework to govern full-scale mining operations.

The latest ISA negotiations in Kingston, Jamaica, have once again failed to yield a resolution, amid growing concerns from scientists, environmental groups, and numerous governments regarding the potential ecological consequences of deep-sea mining. Critics warn that the practice could cause irreversible harm to fragile marine ecosystems, potentially disrupting biodiversity and the carbon sequestration processes of the deep ocean.

With no mining code in place, any application submitted to the ISA this June would likely remain in legal limbo. As a result, The Metals Company has opted to pursue an alternative regulatory pathway by applying through its American subsidiary for a permit from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA operates under a 1980 US law that governs international seabed resource exploitation, despite the fact that the United States is not a member of the ISA or a signatory to UNCLOS.

The Metals Company has indicated that further details regarding the specific areas covered under its new permit application will be disclosed at a later date. The firm’s decision to bypass the ISA underscores the increasing frustrations within the industry over delays in global regulatory frameworks and may set a precedent for other mining companies looking to circumvent international negotiations in favour of national regulations.