Seabed mining

The varied geological and biological processes occurring in the ocean produce economically viable concentrations of a range of minerals, notably in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents, where highly concentrated fluids precipitate out their solutes on cooling. The technical and economic problems of extraction have not been overcome for most deposits. There have been some viable underwater mining operations, notably the recovery of diamonds off the west coast of southern Africa. The size of manganese nodules are 1 centimetre to 10 centimetres, differing in shape and surface, depending on the environment. ==Projects==

On the Namibian west coast of southern Africa, Diamond Fields International Ltd started shallow seabed mining for diamonds in 2001. The De Beers Group continues to use specialized ships to recover diamonds from the seabed. They extracted 1.4 million carats from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Namibia in 2018. In 2019, De Beers commissioned a new ship which is expected to improve productivity by a factor of two. Considering that the PNG economy heavily relies on mining, PNG had a strong interest in the success of Solwara 1and purchased a 30% stake, later costing them over $120 million (USD) in losses. There was widespread opposition to the licensing mostly due to the lack of compensation to any local citizens and indigenous peoples for potential damages that the mining might cause. ==Technology==

Seabed mining proposals are all based on the similar concept of a seabed resource collector, a lifting system and surface vessels which may process the material offshore or transport ores to land based facilities. Most of the proposed collection systems would use remotely operated vehicles, which would remove deposits from the seabed using mechanical devices or pressurized water jets. Robotic excavation machinery were built to work on deposits in the Solwara 1 Project. This included a bulk cutter to break up the surface rock, a collecting machine to act like a suction dredger by pumping the fragments to the lift pump. This would transfer the material to a ship at the surface which would transport the material to a site to be processed. These are massive machines which maneuver around the seabed on caterpillar tracks. Minerals which concentrate in the seafloor deposits can be rich in metals such as copper, gold, silver, and zinc but need to be broken up for extraction and transport. Natural gas would be extracted from reservoirs of gas hydrate by injecting chemical inhibitors, depressurising the reservoir, or increasing the temperature. ==Impact==

Positive There is potential for positive economic impact for the mining industries involved, the industries that need the available minerals, and for the countries with EEZ's in which the deposits are located. In China and Indonesia the waste from lithium, graphite and silicon destroyed villages and ecosystems. There has also been major acid mine drainage issues in America. Land-based mining also produces over 350 billion tonnes of waste and has a major carbon footprint. It accounts for 11% of global energy, compared to an estimated 1% in seabed mining. Some studies have shown that the deep sea has the lowest biomass environments on the planet. The deep sea is much more economical than land based sources as metal ores on land yield below 20%, often using less than 2%, whilst seabed nodules are 99% usable minerals. There is a range of financial cost depending on a nation's valuation of the cost of human life. For example, in South Africa, 143 deaths in 2 years of mining cost $150 million. Often, vulnerable populations are more affected as workers are typically underprivileged people or children in developing countries. Half of cobalt supplies come from inhumane child labour practises and the predicted intensification in the land-based extraction of metals could exacerbate human rights abuses. Seabed mining as an alternative source causes no cultural disruption. Mining companies have also offered 'benefit sharing' to the nations who provide them with contracts to mine within their EEZ. This can include the provision of employment and training, infrastructure development, direct community investment and payments to the government as compensation to the local communities. Infrastructure development could provide access to electricity and clean water or development of roads, schools, and hospitals. In the case of deposits around hydrothermal vents, each vent discharges a unique mix of solutes and therefore each vent is colonized by a different combination of life forms. Researchers are still finding new species, but a common feature of the vents is that their ecosystems thrive in conditions that would be highly hostile to most other life. The study of these species could provide insights into the evolution of terrestrial life. There are also concerns about the safety of the systems planned for mineral recovery, and the possible impact of accidents involving such equipment on the local and wider environment. Some studies have suggested that the microbiology would need over 50 years to return to their undisturbed initial state. Contracts to explore for manganese nodules are typically only for areas up to 75,000km2, but the total area affected is estimated to be between 200 and 600km2 impacting a much larger marine ecosystem. Epifauna is the wildlife that depends on the nodules and the habitat they produce through their substrate. Following the mining of the nodules, the substrate on the nodules will not return for millions of years until new nodules are formed. These rare and slow to reproduce epifauna would face extinction from the habitat removal involved in mining nodules. The organisms living on the seabed can also be affected by the noise and light pollution made by the mining technology or could be dispersed or smothered in the sediment of the plumes. Ultimately, the remoteness and complexity of the seabed make it difficult for scholars to obtain definitive research results. ==Legal aspects==

The International Seabed Authority is a body of the United Nations which was established in 1982 to regulate human activities on the deep-sea floor beyond the continental shelf. It continues to develop rules for commercial mining, and as of 2016, has issued 27 contracts for mineral exploration, covering a total area of more than 1.4 million km2. Other seabed mining operations are already proceeding within the EEZ's of nation states, usually at relatively shallow depths on the continental shelf. which includes the air space, the water column and the subsoil. Coastal states also have exclusive rights and jurisdiction over the resources within their EEZ. Some states also have sovereign rights over the seabed and any mineral resources over an extended continental shelf beyond the EEZ. Further offshore is the area beyond national jurisdiction, which covers both the seabed and the water column above it. UNCLOS designates this region as the common heritage of mankind. UNCLOS provides the legal framework, whilst regulation and control of mineral-related activities are the responsibility of the International Seabed Authority. UNCLOS Article 136 covers the common heritage of mankind, Article 137 covers the resources within the common area and Article 145 covers the protection of the marine environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The Metals Company who is seeking to mine in Nauru agreed to not submit another mining application until July 2024, allowing the ISA four more sessions to work on regulation. The case has led to at least 21 nations along with activists to call for a moratorium until more research is completed. United States interest On April 24, 2025, President Trump issued , "Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources," which directed certain federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to advance seabed mining activities. On April 29, 2025, The Metals Company's U.S. subsidiary (TMC USA) submitted applications to NOAA for two exploration licenses and one commercial recovery permit under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act. In June 2025, TMC USA amended its exploration applications. NOAA determined that these applications were "fully compliant" with DSHMRA requirements. TMC USA's two exploration license applications (A and B) overlap with portions of TMC's Nauru and Tonga ISA exploration contract areas in the CCZ. To date, NOAA has not made a determination on TMC USA's commercial recovery permit application. The information relevant to the application is to be made public when NOAA publishes its notice in the Federal Register (15 C.F.R. §971.212). On January 21, 2026, NOAA issued a final rule that revised its seabed mining regulations to include a "consolidated license and permit application process in which applicants could meet both exploration license requirements, to establish priority of right, and permit requirements simultaneously" (). The final rule is reflected in . On January 22, 2026, TMC USA submitted a consolidated application to NOAA. Reportedly, another U.S. company, Deep Sea Rare Minerals (DSRM), plans to submit a consolidated application to NOAA in 2026. DSRM announced in November 2025 that it had submitted an exploration application to NOAA; reportedly, NOAA determined the application to be in substantial compliance with DSHMRA requirements. ==References==