Mining the Deep Sea: How the US is Unlocking the Ocean’s Critical Minerals 16 January 2026

In 2025, the US witnessed a significant growth in corporate interest and activity in deep sea mining under US laws, namely, the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act 30 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq. (“DSHMRA”). This has largely been driven by a renewed federal push to secure critical mineral resources from the ocean floor, spurred by President Donald Trump’s Executive Order (E.O.) 14285, ‘Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources’, issued in April 2025.

E.O. 14285 directs US federal agencies to accelerate the development of offshore critical minerals, including by expediting the review and issuance of seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits under DSHMRA in areas beyond national jurisdiction (“ABNJ”), i.e. outside of US territorial waters. E.O. 14285 has signalled a pivotal shift in US seabed mining policy, with private sector actors mobilising investment to develop offshore mineral resources, particularly in international waters.

Since the issuance of E.O. 14285, The Metals Company USA, LLC., (“TMC USA”) became the first company to apply for exploration licenses and a commercial recovery permit under DSHMRA in May 2025.

The increased corporate activity under DSHMRA reflects the growing strategic importance of critical minerals in the global transition to clean energy technologies and economic competitiveness in the face of global supply chain vulnerabilities.

This article explores the US legal framework for deep sea mining, namely, DSHMRA (including the US regulator in charge of administering DSHMRA), the policy objectives behind E.O. 14285 and implications for the deep sea mining industry.

1. What is the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act?

DSHMRA was passed by the US Congress in 1980 to establish a domestic legal regime to regulate deep seabed mining activities by US nationals in the ABNJ while the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) remained under negotiation. The primary reasons for Congress passing DSHMRA were:

1. bridging the regulatory gap: to provide a licensing and permitting framework for US nationals to conduct deep seabed exploration and commercial recovery activities in the ABNJ – which activities the US has considered as forming part of the freedoms of the high seas – until an international treaty for deep sea mining was finalised and ratified by the US;
2. ensuring access to critical minerals: to reduce the US’s dependency on foreign sources for critical hard minerals (such as nickel, cobalt and manganese) as the deep seabed offered an alternate, independent source of supply essential for US’s industrial needs; and
3. environmental protection: to ensure that exploration and commercial recovery activities were conducted in a manner that ensures resource conservation and the protection of the marine environment and promotes the safety of life and property at sea.

The US ultimately did not sign or ratify UNCLOS and has remained a persistent objector to the competence of the International Seabed Authority to regulate seabed mining activities for US nationals. The US recently confirmed this position at the Meeting of States Parties to UNCLOS in June 2025 and at the 30^th Session of the International Seabed Authority Assembly in July 2025.

DSHMRA remains the governing regulatory regime for deep sea mining for US nationals in the ABNJ.

2. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) is the US federal agency charged with administering DSHMRA, including the issuance of exploration licenses, to explore a specific area, and commercial recovery permits, allowing resource extraction.

To date, NOAA has issued four exploration licenses under DSHMRA: in 1984, i.e. ten years before UNCLOS entered into force, NOAA issued exploration licenses to four US mining consortia for an initial term of ten years, in relation to four areas located outside of US jurisdiction in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (“CCZ”):

1. USA-1 to Ocean Minerals Company, comprising Cyprus Minerals and Lockheed Martin Corporation (both American companies);
2. USA-2 to Ocean Management Inc. comprising Schlumberger Technology (an American company) and Canadian, German and Japanese companies;
3. USA-3 to Ocean Mining Associates, comprising Essex Minerals Co. and Sun Ocean Ventures, Inc. (both American companies) and Belgian and Italian companies; and
4. USA-4 to Kennecott Consortium, comprising Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation (an American company) and British, Canadian and Japanese companies.

In ​recent years, NOAA ​has ​approved extension ​requests ​with ​respect ​to certain licenses. ​A ​license can be ​extended by ​five-year periods. Whilst NOAA ​has not issued any new exploration ​licenses ​since 1984, two exploration licenses (USA-1 and USA-4) remain active today, both now held by Lockheed Martin Corporation.

NOAA has not issued any commercial recovery permits. As such, commercial recovery or large-scale mining of deep seabed minerals has not yet been conducted by US nationals under DSHMRA.