US Deep-Sea Mining Claim Areas Now Rival ISA Licenses in Size

U.S. ambitions to mine the deep sea are rapidly expanding across the ocean, not only in the country’s own waters, but also on the high seas — the vast expanse of ocean outside any one country’s jurisdiction. In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, a hotspot of mining interest in international waters, a Mongabay analysis shows that companies have either applied to the U.S. or already been granted rights to areas of the seabed equal to about half the expanse already designated for mining activities by the international community. Most of the applications to the U.S. occurred within the past year and a half, a fraction of the 25 years the multilateral U.N.-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA) has spent issuing seabed mining exploration licenses.

U.S. applicants are not only seeking rights to explore the deep seabed, but some are also applying for commercial recovery permits. If approved by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), these recovery permits would allow the companies to extract and eventually sell the minerals. While the ISA can also accept mining exploitation applications, no company has yet submitted one to the organization. No other country or institution is known to unilaterally accept applications to mine in international waters, and commercial-scale seabed mining has not yet begun anywhere in the world.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →