US finalizes rule to fast-track deepsea mining in international waters

The Trump administration on Jan. 21 finalized a rule to accelerate deepsea mining in international waters by consolidating permitting processes, potentially positioning the US to unilaterally launch the controversial industry.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 113-page rule merges the existing two-step permitting process for exploration and commercial recovery into a single review, reducing environmental oversight for harvesting seabed minerals beyond US jurisdiction.

"This new rule represents a meaningful modernization of the U.S. regulatory framework for deep seabed nodule collection and acknowledges the significant advances the industry has made since the U.S. regime was first established," Gerrard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company, which hopes to extract metals from the deepsea, said in a statement Jan. 21.

The administration claims authority under the 1980 Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), but experts told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, the move could expose companies pursuing US licenses to expensive litigation in international waters.

Environmental groups have long argued that scraping the sea floor for metals would damage marine ecosystems.

The regulatory change follows President Donald Trump's executive order in April 2025 directing agencies to streamline processes for harvesting seabed minerals, including rare earth elements critical to clean energy and defense technologies. The move comes as global demand intensifies for minerals needed in electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy infrastructure, with large Pacific Ocean areas covered in polymetallic nodules containing cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese.

Mining frontier

The ocean floor has emerged as a coveted frontier for companies and countries seeking access to minerals essential for clean energy technologies. Potato-sized polymetallic nodules scattered across vast areas of the Pacific seabed contain concentrations of battery metals that could help meet surging demand from the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors.

Canada's The Metals Company has positioned itself as a frontrunner in the race for exploration rights in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, where nodule deposits are particularly dense. The zone spans approximately 4.5 million sq km between Hawaii and Mexico, containing an estimated 21 billion metric tons of polymetallic nodules, according to the US Geological Survey.The Trump administration is also considering allowing mining from an area of the Pacific around American Samoa and off the Virginia Coast.

NOAA will hold public hearings on the deepsea mining application for The Metals Company on Jan. 27-28, according to the Federal Register.