Ocean Conservation & Tidalpunk

Canadian deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company (TMC) has announced it “initiated a process” with U.S. regulators to apply for both exploration and exploitation licenses, potentially circumventing the international regulator. TMC’s process with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration falls under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA), which was established as an interim legal framework for the recovery of seabed mineral resources prior to the creation of an international regulatory framework under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

TMC made the announcement via a press release and a public-facing investor call just before the conclusion of the latest meeting of the 36-member council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-affiliated regulator responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in international waters.