TMC USA Submits Landmark Consolidated Deep-Seabed Mining Application, Expanding Commercial Recovery Zone to 65,000 km²

**The Metals Company Files Landmark Deep-Sea Mining Application, Targeting Critical Minerals Expansion**

The Metals Company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) has taken a significant step towards unlocking vast deep-sea mineral resources, filing its first consolidated application with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for an exploration license and commercial recovery permit. This submission, lodged by its U.S. subsidiary TMC USA, targets the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, a region estimated to hold immense quantities of polymetallic nodules essential for the global energy transition.

The filing represents a strategic move to leverage NOAA’s newly modernized application and review process, which the company anticipates will streamline permitting timelines for projects with established exploration programs. This aligns with broader governmental initiatives aimed at securing critical offshore mineral resources.

TMC USA’s consolidated application dramatically expands its proposed commercial recovery area to approximately 65,000 square kilometers, a substantial increase from the initial 25,000 square kilometers outlined in its April 2025 application. This expanded footprint is underpinned by a significant estimated resource of 619 million tonnes of wet nodules, with a further exploration upside of an additional 200 million tonnes. These nodules are rich in critical metals such as nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese, with the company reporting a nickel equivalent grade of approximately 3.2% and a copper equivalent grade of 7%.

Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of TMC, emphasized the culmination of over a decade of scientific, engineering, and environmental research that underpins this application. “This new application represents the culmination of more than a decade of disciplined scientific, engineering, and environmental work,” Barron stated. “It translates years of exploration, testing, and data collection into a single, comprehensive submission for a defined, expanded, and game-changing critical minerals project, with more than 800 million estimated tonnes of nodules containing high-grade nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese.”

The company’s readiness for commercial operations is supported by extensive prior work, including 27 offshore research cruises focused on resource and environmental assessment. This data has been further augmented by thousands of seafloor samples and a comprehensive integrated test mining campaign, the largest of its kind since the 1970s. This campaign successfully collected 3,000 tonnes of polymetallic nodules, demonstrating the viability of their collection systems.

Crucially, TMC has also conducted pilot and commercial-scale processing tests, successfully converting these nodules into valuable feedstocks for battery and steel manufacturing. Peer-reviewed research, drawing on TMC’s test mining data, has reportedly shown that both benthic biodiversity and sediment plume impacts are confined to the directly mined area, providing a scientifically grounded basis for responsible scaling of operations.

The application details a phased development approach, beginning in well-characterized sections of the license area where extensive data on nodules and habitats has been gathered, and where test mining and monitoring have already taken place. This strategy aims to de-risk the initial phase of commercial recovery.

NOAA’s long-standing involvement in deep seabed mining research, dating back to the 1970s, has provided a robust regulatory framework. The agency’s updated regulations reflect decades of environmental research and technological advancements, creating a pathway for companies like TMC to advance their projects.

TMC highlights a series of industry “firsts” that position it favorably for navigating the permitting process. These include the first Canadian NI 43-101 and U.S. SEC S-K 1300 nodule resource statements, feasibility studies, and the declaration of nodule reserves. Furthermore, the company has achieved milestones in nodule processing, including the production of various metal sulfates and alloys, and in environmental assessment, with comprehensive impact studies and lifecycle analyses.

The market reaction to this news was notably positive, with TMC’s stock showing a significant surge. This contrasts with mixed performance among its peers, suggesting a stock-specific catalyst driven by the regulatory progress. While the application has been submitted, the ultimate approval and timeline remain subject to NOAA’s review process, introducing an element of uncertainty for investors. However, the company’s strategic positioning and the potential for accessing a significant new source of critical metals position it as a key player in the evolving landscape of resource extraction.