Deep-sea mining is moving from pitch to policy in the United States, a shift driven by a Trump executive order that promised to create an industry from scratch and directed federal agencies to expedite permits. In the year since the order took effect, businesses raised millions from investors and regulators raced to build a permitting pathway, according to an Associated Press review published May 21. The review says at least nine companies are in talks with the government for access to seabed minerals, and that sections of the seafloor from American Samoa to Alaska could be auctioned for offshore mining this summer and through the fall.
The thrust is grounded in a stated push for critical minerals and reduced reliance on China. The executive order, signed in April 2025, described seafloor minerals as vital to U.S. prosperity and “trade independence from China,” and it directed U.S. agencies to expedite permitting for mining in offshore waters. Within the administration, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum later announced a mandate for staff to “speed up” the development of critical minerals offshore, and federal agencies moved to evaluate potential seabed-mining areas in waters off Alaska, Virginia, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Two agencies are set to enforce the rules: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The Associated Press review says NOAA has never approved a commercial seabed-mining project, and BOEM has not approved such work beyond a short-lived mining effort in California waters more than 60 years ago. NOAA has shortened the timeline for companies pursuing commercial permits and targets processing 16 applications next fiscal year, the review says.
The industry’s pitch centers on minerals from the seafloor, especially polymetallic nodules—fist-shaped rocks that scientists say form over millions of years from the remains of sunken shark teeth and shells. Those nodules contain high grades of manganese, copper, nickel and cobalt, with smaller amounts of rare earth elements, and scientists have estimated trillions of nodules lie on the international seabed between Mexico and Hawaii. Nearer to shore, companies have also proposed dredging ocean sands for materials such as titanium, zirconium and phosphorites.
Among companies seeking access, The Metals Company has long been viewed as a frontrunner. Its CEO, Gerard Barron, told AP that he was in the White House the day Trump signed the executive order, and a company spokesperson said the firm had no unfair advantages while saying it is well-positioned because it has spent 15 years preparing and testing for offshore mining. AP reports that if it receives a permit, The Metals Company says it can mine the seafloor commercially before the end of next year, and that it has tested equipment in deep-water conditions by hauling up 3,000 metric tons of nodules in a 2022 trial.
The review also traces other players’ backgrounds and ambitions. Odyssey Marine Exploration, a company formed in the 1990s to discover shipwrecks and sell artifacts for profit, says it has requested a regulatory process with BOEM to consider mining off Virginia, AP reports. Odyssey ran into trouble in 2007 after discovering an underwater shipwreck containing silver and gold coins that Spain later claimed, leading to a yearslong court battle; AP says the company later pivoted to pursuing seafloor minerals.
Impossible Metals aims to mine nodules in U.S. waters near American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, even as local residents and leaders have raised outcry, AP reports. AP says other companies are also lining up for permission—including American Metal Resources, SeaX, Deep Sea Minerals Corp., and Deep Sea Rare Minerals—which planned to change its name to Eco Minerals this week.
Despite the acceleration, AP says major questions remain unanswered—particularly about how mined minerals would be processed and refined and whether the promised returns will materialize. Economists and investors question the economic merit of deep-sea mining, the review says, pointing to cheaper and more widely available minerals on land. Ian Lange, a professor of mineral economics at the Colorado School of Mines, said deep-sea mining advocates appear to overlook land-based options and questioned whether demand will be strong enough, citing inactive copper mines in Michigan and Wyoming and a cobalt mine idled in Idaho.
The Associated Press review also highlights uncertainty in project economics, including The Metals Company’s own projections. In an assessment of the company’s economic viability, The Metals Company forecast it would break even in its eighth year of commercial seabed mining, and that the same year it forecast its mineral reserves would be “all mined.” “No one goes into a project saying, ‘In the best-case scenario, we’ll break even,’” mining consultant Steven Emerman said, according to the AP review. The Metals Company said it completed mining plans and seafloor surveys for the first eight years, and it argued that surveying, sampling and analyzing additional minerals should be done once the project is underway.
The review points to additional challenges that could affect whether deep-sea mining scales in practice. For example, the U.S. currently has no major processing facilities for nickel, manganese or cobalt, AP reports, and in the near term companies would have to rely on existing supply chains abroad. The Metals Company has explored processing with partners in Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, the review says. AP also reports that reliance on foreign partners could raise legal issues because many other countries involved in deep-sea mining are bound by commitments to the International Seabed Authority and could face lawsuits if they help the U.S. tap the global seabed.