The exploitation of deepsea critical minerals is set to be prioritized under the presidency of Donald Trump, according to Craig Shesky, chief financial officer of The Metals Company.
Speaking in a recent interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights ahead of Trump's inauguration, Shesky said the new administration was poised to adopt explicit policy measures aimed at strengthening US deep sea mining capabilities and pushing back against China's growing influence within the International Seabed Authority, the UN-backed organization tasked with regulating ocean floor exploration and mining activities in international waters.
China holds five of the ISA's 30 active exploration licenses -- the most of any country -- granting it exclusive mining rights to about 92,000 sq miles of international seafloor once commercial mining regulations are eventually adopted. By comparison, US companies do not hold any ISA exploration contracts and the US' role within the organization is restricted to observer status, having yet to ratify the 1994 Law of the Sea Treaty.
Shesky said support for TMC and the wider deepsea mining industry has been evident within the US government for several years, with numerous lawmakers expressing alarm at China's expanding monopoly over critical minerals supply chains and the potential threat to US national security and economic competitiveness.
He noted that former president Joe Biden had refused calls from within his own party for a US moratorium on deepsea mining owing to concerns around China's deepsea mining advancements and developments within the ISA.
"The predominant view we've seen among US lawmakers is that we are not going to go down that road and cede another key industry to China," he said.
Growing legislative support
In December, the House of Representatives passed its annual defense funding bill, which included a provision instructing the Secretary of Defense to conduct a feasibility study on the domestic refining of nodule-derived intermediates.
This followed President Biden's signing of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act in January 2024, directing the House Armed Services Committee to submit a report on the domestic processing of seafloor polymetallic nodules. The report's findings are yet to be released, with Shesky speculating that publication is imminent.
"While the support for this industry has always been there, we're now seeing a willingness to put ink on paper and understand what the numbers could look like for the US to participate," he said.
"We expect that the Trump administration will move to prioritize this industry through the adoption of explicit financial support and policy measures that reflect the strategic and economic importance of deepsea minerals."
Shesky added that US action on deepsea mining is likely to be accelerated by the rise of several prominent industry advocates to key positions within the Trump administration. This includes Marco Rubio, the recently confirmed Secretary of State, as well as Trump's new national security adviser Mike Waltz. Howard Lutnick and Elise Stefanik, Trump's respective nominees for Secretary of Commerce and US Ambassador to UN, have also voiced support for deepsea mining in the past.
"When you look at Trump's inner circle, it features a number of prominent deepsea mining champions," he said. "We know them very well and we are excited to see what the next couple of months is going to bring in terms of explicit support for the industry."
Strategic developments
Most of the commercial interest in deepsea mining has focused on polymetallic nodules located within the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. Found across vast areas of the muddy ocean floor at depths of 4,000-6,000 m, potato-sized mineral concentrations contain a dense combination of critical metals including cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese.
Through its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc., TMC is focused on the development of the NORI-D lease area located in the eastern CCZ where the company has been surveying polymetallic nodule fields.
In November, TMC announced it would apply for a deepsea mineral exploitation permit for NORI-D on June 27, adding that ISA rules allow for permit applications even though the organization is yet to adopt a mining code. With the ISA still undecided on how these applications will be reviewed and decided upon, a meeting of the ISA Assembly in Kingston in March will represent a pivotal moment in determining the future of deepsea mining.
According to the TMC, operations at NORI-D will eventually be ramped up to produce 119,000 mt/year of nickel, 2.8 million mt/year of manganese, 89,000 mt/year of copper and 9,000 mt/year of cobalt.
Through its subsidiary, TMC also holds the exploration and commercial rights to another polymetallic nodule contract area in the CCZ sponsored by the government of Tonga.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed battery-grade 20.5% Co cobalt sulfate at Yuan 25,800/mt DDP China Jan. 22, unchanged week over week.
