The still potential-but-perhaps-soon-to-be-real world of seabed mining took an interesting turn in the past month.
The still potential-but-perhaps-soon-to-be-real world of seabed mining took an interesting turn in the past month. The announcement from The Metals Company that it “has formally initiated a process…to apply for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits under existing U.S. legislation, the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA)” came just prior to the White House’s issuance of a new executive order authorizing this approach.
These announcements mark major course changes. The Metals Company is essentially giving up on the existing international framework to govern and regulate seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the high seas), and the U.S., which to date has been a largely passive observer of efforts to develop seabed mining, may be about to thrust itself into the center of the action.
Since 1994, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an independent organization created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), has overseen the management of seabed mineral resources in the high seas. With 169 out of 193 nations plus the European Union as members, the ISA is recognized internationally as the only entity with jurisdiction over the high seas.
For the rest of this article: https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/04/27/new-turmoil-in-regulating-deep-seabed-mining-on-the-high-seas/