TMC Welcomes NOAA Rule Modernizing Deep-Seabed Mining Permits for U.S. Companies in the High Seas
- Final rule establishes a consolidated application and review process for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA)
- Updated regulations reflect advances in environmental science, seafloor mapping, and offshore mineral-collection technologies
- New framework allows applicants to rely on exploration-phase environmental, geological, and engineering data in commercial recovery applications, reducing duplication and improving regulatory efficiency
- TMC USA intends to submit a consolidated application pursuant to NOAA's updated regulations, and anticipates that the new consolidated review process will reduce the time required to secure a commercial recovery permit
NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TMC the metals company Inc. (NASDAQ:TMC) ("TMC" or the "Company"), a leading developer of the world's largest resource of critical metals essential to energy, defense, manufacturing and infrastructure, today welcomed the new rule issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) updating regulations governing deep seabed mineral exploration and commercial recovery.
The final rule, titled "Deep Seabed Mining: Revisions to Regulations for Exploration License and Commercial Recovery Permit Applications," was published by NOAA in the Federal Register and became effective on Wednesday, January 21, 2026. The rule updates NOAA's regulations implementing DSHMRA and modernizes the federal permitting framework applicable to U.S. companies seeking to explore for and recover deep seabed hard mineral resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of TMC, said: "This new rule represents a meaningful modernization of the U.S. regulatory framework for deep seabed nodule collection and acknowledges the significant advances the industry has made since the U.S. regime was first established. I would like to commend NOAA for its ability to mobilize resources and expertise and for recognizing early on that delivering on the Executive Order's directive to accelerate permitting required changes in existing regulations. The consolidated process is designed to reduce timelines while increasing efficiency and predictability for responsible operators. Importantly, this framework applies only to companies that have completed the necessary exploration, environmental, and technological development work. The updated regulations align well with TMC USA's long-term strategy and support a thoughtful transition from exploration to commercial production, and we look forward to submitting a consolidated application soon."
NOAA wrote about the rule in the Federal Register, "The objective of this rule is to provide the option for a consolidated application streamlining the process for qualified applicants, in accordance to President signed Executive Order 14285, ‘Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources,' establishing policies to advance U.S. leadership in seabed mineral exploration and responsible commercial recovery."
It added: "As the agency anticipated, over the past decades there has been a vast improvement in the technological capability for deep seabed mining, and the industry has obtained a substantial amount of information from deep seabed exploration activities and expressed a readiness for commercial recovery."
Under the updated framework, qualified applicants may submit exploration and commercial recovery information together, and may incorporate environmental, geological, and engineering data collected during exploration activities directly into commercial recovery permit applications.
NOAA has played a central role in advancing scientific understanding of deep seabed mining impacts since the 1970s, including conducting environmental research cruises in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), monitoring early nodule collection trials, and publishing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the CCZ in 1981. The agency issued comprehensive DSHMRA implementing regulations in 1989 and has maintained an active licensing program since that time, with multiple exploration licenses renewed on a five-year basis. The newly effective rule updates this regulatory framework to reflect decades of additional environmental research, data collection, and technological development.
About The Metals Company
The Metals Company is a developer of lower-impact critical metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission: (1) supply metals for energy, defense, manufacturing and infrastructure with net positive impacts compared to conventional production routes and (2) trace, recover and recycle the metals we supply to help create a metal commons that can be used in perpetuity. The Company has conducted more than a decade of research into the environmental and social impacts of offshore nodule collection and onshore processing. More information is available at www.metals.co.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words such as believes, could, expects, may, plans, possible, potential, will and variations of these words or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's strategy to pursue commercial recovery of seafloor polymetallic nodules under the U.S. regulatory regime; the expected impacts of NOAA's new regulations under DSHMRA; and the Company's intent to submit a consolidated application pursuant to NOAA's updated regulations. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, among other things, the outcome and timing of regulatory reviews by NOAA under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 and the regulations promulgated thereunder; the ability to obtain an exploitation contract from the International Seabed Authority or permits from the U.S. government; risks related to the Company's dual path permitting strategy; changes in environmental, mining and other applicable laws and regulations; the development, testing and scaling of offshore collection systems; risks related to strategic partnerships and technology sharing; uncertainties relating to processing nodules at commercial scale; the outcome of any pending or future litigation; and other risks and uncertainties described in greater detail in the section entitled Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 27, 2025, and in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, filed on May 14, 2025, and for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 filed on August 14, 2025. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether because of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.
