Countries are negotiating rules to mine the deep sea. The U.S. is pushing ahead alone

## Summary
NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition hide caption toggle caption NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition Vacuuming deep sea nodules All types of mining have an environmental impact. NOAA Ocean Exploration hide caption toggle caption NOAA Ocean Exploration "What we're proposing is that we basically build a large vacuum cleaner that crawls along the seabed and picks these nodules up," Clarke says. "It sucks these nodules up and sends them up a pipe vertically to a vessel that's on the surface." Securing a mining permit requires understanding the environmental impact, something that's challenging for deep-sea mining companies given how little the depths of the ocean have been explored. NOAA/DeepCCZ Expedition hide caption toggle caption NOAA/DeepCCZ Expedition After the nodules are gathered, deep-sea mining has another potential impact: extra sediment. Going outside the international framework could pose a risk to the U.S., which relies on international cooperation from other countries around rules for shipping and fishing. "We rely on these customary ocean laws so other countries don't violate norms around things like fishing," Loomis says. "So the US is really undermining its own interests by being the first mover in deep-sea mining and going against this international consensus." NOAA is now reviewing permits from The Metals Company, which is currently drafting environmental impact reports for that process.

## Article Content
Climate
Countries are negotiating rules to mine the deep sea. The U.S. is pushing ahead alone
March 13, 2026
6:50 AM ET
Lauren Sommer
Thousands of feet deep, parts of the seafloor are covered in polymetallic nodules. The potato-sized formations are being targeted by mining companies because of the metals they contain.
NOAA Ocean Exploration
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NOAA Ocean Exploration
More than 10,000 feet deep in the ocean, the seafloor is covered with what look like dark, lumpy potatoes.
These polymetallic nodules, as they're known, take millions of years to form, slowly accumulating metals like nickel, cobalt and manganese. That's made them a target for mining companies, looking to feed the world's growing hunger for materials that go into advanced batteries and other technologies.
On the seafloor, the nodules are vital habitat, part of a fragile ecosystem of marine species that are adapted to the dark, cold environment. With the majority of life in the deep sea still undiscovered by humans,
many scientists
say too little is known about damage that mining could cause.
Interest in mining the deep sea is gaining momentum. This week,
dozens of countries are meeting
in Jamaica to develop rules that would govern the growing rush. The International Seabed Authority, created under a United Nations treaty, is overseeing the development of those rules for international waters, which are shared by all countries.
Short Wave
What's best for Earth? The debate over deep ocean mining
The U.S. has opted out of the process and is moving ahead on its own in international waters. Last year, President Trump
signed an executive order
to develop the seabed mining industry "to counter China's growing influence over seabed mineral resources." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently sped up the environmental review process, a move that alarmed conservation groups.
"This is a brand new industry globally and yet, we're cutting down all these procedures for really thinking it through and deciding whether it's a good idea or not," says Rebecca Loomis, staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Little of the deep sea environment has been explored by humans. Research expeditions regularly discover marine life that's unknown to science.
NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition
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NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition
Vacuuming deep sea nodules
All types of mining have an environmental impact. Deep-sea mining companies are trying to make the case that their methods do the least damage.
"There's always going to be risk – where is that minimized?" says Michael Clarke, environmental manager for The Metals Company. "My opinion is: that's in the deep ocean."
The Metals Company is
pushing to be the first
to commercially harvest deep sea minerals at large-scale. While many countries have explored potential mining sites, the company has filed applications with U.S. regulators to
bring up more than a million tons
of polymetallic nodules over a 20-year lease. Its sights are on the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a large stretch of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico.
Nodules on the seafloor provide a hard surface in an otherwise muddy environment. Up to a third of deep sea marine life depend on nodules in some way.
NOAA Ocean Exploration
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NOAA Ocean Exploration
"What we're proposing is that we basically build a large vacuum cleaner that crawls along the seabed and picks these nodules up," Clarke says. "It sucks these nodules up and sends them up a pipe vertically to a vessel that's on the surface."
Securing a mining permit requires understanding the environmental impact, something that's challenging for deep-sea mining companies given how little the depths of the ocean have been explored. The Metals Company asked scientists from research organizations like the University of Hawaii, the U.K.'s National Oceanography Centre and its Natural History Museum to study their sites both before and after test mining was conducted. The scientists analyzed and published their findings independently of the company.
Steve Haddock of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute holds a polymetallic nodule from the deep ocean. Layers of metals accumulate over millions of years, like tree rings.
Lauren Sommer/NPR
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Lauren Sommer/NPR
Removing nodules from the ocean floor disturbs the silty seabed that's home to many organisms, like worms and small crustaceans, the scientists found. Researchers at the UK's Natural History Museum and other institutions found that two months after mining, the abundance of species
was reduced by 37 percent
. The biodiversity also decreased by 32 percent. The company has not been able to study how those species recovered longer-term.
Clarke says those numbers aren't as severe as the impact from mining projects currently damaging ecosystems on land, like where he's previously worked in the Indonesian rainforest.
"Go and look at that and then c

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Clarke says those numbers aren't as severe as the impact from mining projects currently damaging ecosystems on land, like where he's previously worked in the Indonesian rainforest. "Go and look at that and then compare that to what we're proposing," Clarke says. "There are still going to be impacts, but they're nowhere near as significant as what's happening at the moment." A sea cucumber preserved at London's Natural History Museum, collected from the deep sea.
- Leon Neal/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Leon Neal/Getty Images Life in the deep sea Other scientists say the impact of deep-sea mining is far from understood. "It's a bit of a fallacy that there's not much down there, it's not very important and our impact is going to be restricted to a small area," says Steve Haddock, senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

### Areas for Consideration
- Deep-sea mining companies are trying to make the case that their methods do the least damage. "There's always going to be risk – where is that minimized?" says Michael Clarke, environmental manager for The Metals Company. "My opinion is: that's in the deep ocean." The Metals Company is pushing to be the first to commercially harvest deep sea minerals at large-scale.
- Going outside the international framework could pose a risk to the U.S., which relies on international cooperation from other countries around rules for shipping and fishing. "We rely on these customary ocean laws so other countries don't violate norms around things like fishing," Loomis says. "So the US is really undermining its own interests by being the first mover in deep-sea mining and going against this international consensus." NOAA is now reviewing permits from The Metals Company, which is currently drafting environmental impact reports for that process.

### Implications
- With the majority of life in the deep sea still undiscovered by humans, many scientists say too little is known about damage that mining could cause.
- Last year, President Trump signed an executive order to develop the seabed mining industry "to counter China's growing influence over seabed mineral resources." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently sped up the environmental review process, a move that alarmed conservation groups. "This is a brand new industry globally and yet, we're cutting down all these procedures for really thinking it through and deciding whether it's a good idea or not," says Rebecca Loomis, staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
- NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition hide caption toggle caption NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition Vacuuming deep sea nodules All types of mining have an environmental impact.
- NOAA Ocean Exploration hide caption toggle caption NOAA Ocean Exploration "What we're proposing is that we basically build a large vacuum cleaner that crawls along the seabed and picks these nodules up," Clarke says. "It sucks these nodules up and sends them up a pipe vertically to a vessel that's on the surface." Securing a mining permit requires understanding the environmental impact, something that's challenging for deep-sea mining companies given how little the depths of the ocean have been explored.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers deep, mining, sea topics. Notable strengths include discussion of deep. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1994.