Posted in deep sea mining, energy policy, tagged deep sea mining, environmental impacts, Impossible Metals, land vs. deep sea, The Metals Company on October 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
BOE contributor John Smith, who worked in the US marine minerals program, shared the pictures pasted below.
An Impossible Metals table (below) understandably favors their methods vs. those employed by deep-sea mining rival The Metals Company. However, both approaches are far preferable, environmentally and socially, to onshore metal mining.
Impossible Metals graphic:
Posted in deep sea mining, energy policy, tagged deep sea mining, first production, ISA, Naura, NOAA, NORI, permitting, TMC on August 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Highlights from TMC’s Q2 update:
Meanwhile, after missing deadlines in 2020 and 2023, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) again failed to deliver a Mining Code as communicated in their 2023 roadmap during the second part of their 30th session in July 2025. No new roadmap or new target date for adopting the final Mining Code has been agreed. The next ISA meeting is scheduled for March 2026. (Hence the importance of direct permitting through the US/NOAA.)
Posted in deep sea mining, energy policy, tagged deep sea mining, land vs. deep sea impacts, Mars Lewis, monitoring, oversight, polymetallic nodules on May 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
One nodule contains high grades of four key metals, meaning that four times less ore needs to be processed to obtain the same amount of metal. Nodules also contain no toxic levels of heavy elements, and the entirety of a nodule can be used, making near-zero-solid-waste production possible. Because nodules sit unattached on top of the seafloor, they will not require drilling or blasting for retrieval.
It’s time to move ahead with deep sea mining in both international and US territorial waters. As we did for frontier exploratory oil and gas drilling in Alaska and the Atlantic, I recommend comprehensive oversight including full time onboard inspectors during the initial operations and a carefully designed environmental monitoring program.
This deep sea mining commentary by Mars Lewis was brought to my attention by John Smith. Good read:
🇺🇸🚢 ⛏️ We’re witnessing a wave of glorified pseudoscience and fantasy activism around the ocean floor—this idea that the deep sea is some mystical sanctuary of life and that any attempt to extract resources from it is an unforgivable sin against Gaia. Spare me.
The bottom of the ocean is not the Garden of Eden. It’s a black, silent, high-pressure wasteland—largely lifeless, uninhabitable, and filled with the very minerals we need to break free from Chinese supply chain domination. You want a clean energy future? Then stop whining about the only scalable path to get there.
China has already begun strip-mining the ocean floor without asking for your permission. They don’t care about the blobfish or the bacteria colonies around volcanic vents. They care about winning. And every time we moralize ourselves into inaction, we gift them another geopolitical advantage wrapped in Western guilt.
Let’s cut the delusion. There is no future where America stays on top without securing its own critical minerals. Recycling won’t save us. Wind and solar need metals. Batteries need rare earths. Data centers need semiconductors. And semiconductors need the materials sitting at the bottom of the ocean.
You don’t get to demand green tech, reject land mining, block seabed access, and still pretend you’re “saving the planet.” That’s not leadership. That’s learned helplessness.
So yes, I support Trump’s executive action. Because someone has to make the grown-up decision. Either we lead this resource race with responsibility and strength—or we watch tyrants carve up the planet while we post crying-face emojis and argue about what’s sacred 10,000 feet below sea level.
Let the race for the bottom begin. 🇺🇸🚢
Deep sea vs. land mining:
Posted in deep sea mining, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged deep sea mining, Lisa Murkowski, NDAA, NORI, Norway, Norwegian Offshore Directorate, polymetallic nodules, TMC on January 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“the committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy shall, by March 1, 2024, submit a report to the House Armed Services Committee assessing the processing of seabed resources of polymetallic nodules domestically. The report shall include, at a minimum, the following:
NDAA, p. 230
(1) a review of current resources and controlling parties in securing seabed resources of polymetallic nodules;
(2) an assessment of current domestic deep-sea mining and material processing capabilities; and
(3) a roadmap recommending how the United States can have the ability to source and/or process critical minerals in innovative arenas, such as deep-sea mining, to decrease reliance on sources from foreign adversaries and bolster domestic competencies.
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged court order, deep sea mining, Georges Bank, Greenpeace, TMC, Zapata Saratoga on December 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
TMC
- The District Court of Amsterdam has ordered Greenpeace International to immediately disembark from the research vessel commissioned by TMC subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI) to conduct legally-mandated environmental impact assessments requested by the Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority (ISA)
- Since November 23rd, Greenpeace’s unsafe and unlawful activities have hindered independent scientists in conducting environmental and scientific studies to assess ecosystem function and recovery one year on from NORI’s pilot nodule collection system test
A bit of history: We experienced Greenpeace protesters on Georges Bank way back in 1981. They were dispatched from the Rainbow Warrior which visited the Zapata Saratoga, 155 miles SE of Nantucket. Given the remote location, the protest was unexpected. However, the drilling operation was not disrupted and no action was taken against Greenpeace. Four years later, the Rainbow Warrior was bombed by French commandos while in port in Auckland, NZ prior to planned protests against French nuclear testing in the South Pacific. Sadly, one crew member was killed during this incident.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged chicken-egg dilemma, deep sea mining, ISA, regulations, safety management on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
This interesting Scientific American article ends with a short paragraph that our regulatory scholars may want to ponder:
Mining’s larger future will rest largely on how ISA (the International Seabed Authority) finalizes its rule book amid the rush to scour the seafloor. ISA has a rare chance to regulate an industry before the industry has begun.
Thoughts:
Posted in Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged deep sea mining, Hidden Gem, Long Beach, Manzanillo, MV Coco, The Metals Company on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Our Mexican correspondent Andrew Konczvald reports that the Hidden Gem deep sea mining vessel is no longer in Manzanillo. Vessel tracking data indicate that the ship has relocated to the Port of Long Beach.
News articles are reporting that The Metals Company is conducting studies in the Pacific. These articles erroneously include a file photo of the Hidden Gem, which is not involved with this research. The MV Coco, an impressive research vessel that is pictured below with the obligatory Greenpeace protesters, is conducting the studies.
On a related note, below is an interesting video about last year’s nodule recovery trials using the Hidden Gem’s integrated collection system.
Posted in energy policy, Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, Uncategorized, tagged CIA, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, deep sea mining, Glomar Explorer, Hidden Gem, ISA, Manzanillo, Naura, The Metals Company, UNCLOS on October 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Andrew Konczvald’s reports from Manzanillo, Mexico about the presence of the Hidden Gem (pictured above), a converted deepwater drillship, have renewed BOE interest in deep sea mining, a topic that is full of political, environmental, legal, and operational intrigue:
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
