The landscape of deep-sea mining underwent significant transformation in 2025, marked by substantial policy changes and accelerated industry development. The Metals Company, which has invested millions over more than a decade into seafloor mining technology, environmental research, and stakeholder advocacy, experienced a remarkable financial turnaround that reflects broader shifts in governmental and investment priorities.

The company’s public offering in 2021 began at $11.05 per share. Stock performance subsequently declined sharply as international regulators deliberated regulatory frameworks, reaching a low of $0.55 per share. However, recent trading positioned the stock at $7.89—representing a tenfold annual increase—despite the company remaining unprofitable and unable to generate revenue from mineral sales before at least late 2027 due to pending permits. Chief Financial Officer Craig Shesky attributed the recovery to the administration’s commitment to reducing American dependence on Chinese mineral sources, stating that the company occupies a central position in efforts to diversify critical mineral supply chains.

The acceleration reflects the Trump administration’s strategic focus on securing American dominance in critical minerals. The administration prioritizes metals including manganese, cobalt, copper, and nickel—essential components for batteries used in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and military equipment including missiles, fighter jets, and tanks. Industry proponents argue that seafloor mining represents a necessary pathway to global fossil fuel independence and climate transition, though the scientific community raises substantial concerns about environmental consequences and potential atmospheric carbon release from seafloor disturbance.

The administration’s approach diverges notably from established international frameworks. In April, the Trump administration asserted American rights to mine in international waters, departing from the United Nations-coordinated International Seabed Authority process designed to regulate deep-sea mining on the high seas. This unilateral stance contradicts years of advocacy by Indigenous environmental representatives from Hawaiʻi, French Polynesia, and the Cook Islands, who have worked through the ISA to protect their ocean-related cultural rights and practices.

Geographic scope of proposed mining operations is substantial. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone south of Hawaiʻi contains over 36 million acres of international waters with significant mineral deposits. Additional proposed sites include 35.5 million acres near the Marianas Trench in Cook Islands waters, 33 million acres off American Samoa, and 35 million acres east of the Northern Mariana Islands. Combined, these areas exceed 104.5 million acres—equivalent to California’s total land area.

Scientific research increasingly documents environmental risks. A United Kingdom study revealed that seafloor sites remained unrecovered more than four decades after mining activity. Hawaiian researchers found that mining sediment reduced plankton nutritional intake, disrupting the food web. Additional studies documented a 37 percent decline in seafloor creatures such as worms and mollusks within two months of mining operations. The Metals Company funded considerable research but has contested scientists’ interpretations of these findings.

Indigenous Pacific communities voice serious opposition. Sheila Babauta, a Chamorro-Pohnpeian resident of the Northern Mariana Islands, expressed deep concerns about colonial patterns embedded in the approval process. She noted that political leaders were not consulted before mining proposals were issued, and that the administration limited public comment periods to 30 days despite requests for 120-day extensions. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam—jurisdictions directly affected by proposals—requested extended review periods to allow residents adequate time for informed participation.

The American Samoa government unanimously opposed mining across 18 million acres of its waters, citing the critical importance of tuna exports, which constitute 99.5 percent of the territory’s export economy, and the cultural and spiritual significance of ocean resources. In response, the Trump administration expanded the proposed mining region to approximately 33 million acres and proceeded with permitting.

Blue Ocean Law, a Guam-based firm, submitted testimony highlighting irreversible injuries to Indigenous food systems, spiritual practices, and traditional navigation corridors. The firm emphasized that these cultural practices cannot be relocated, replicated, or monetarily compensated, and that deep-sea mining would intensify existing inequalities within Pacific territories already burdened by militarization and environmental degradation.

Competing mining companies have emerged alongside The Metals Company. Impossible Metals, a five-year-old startup, proposes robot-based extraction technology and suggests a one percent profit share with territories, though no legal requirement mandates revenue sharing.

The financial benefits remain inaccessible to territorial residents, whose median incomes fall below half the national average and who frequently cannot access investment accounts through major brokerages due to address verification requirements. The framework essentially replicates historical resource colonialism patterns, where extraction proceeds under federal authority while profits flow outward and communities absorb permanent ecological damage.

Japan Joins Rapid Global Push for Deep-Sea Minerals as U.S. Companies Surge

Japan announced on December 23, 2025, that it will conduct test mining of rare-earth-rich mud from the deep seabed off remote Minamitori Island, launching its first large-scale attempt to secure critical minerals from the ocean floor and intensifying an international race for underwater resources, according to a Reuters report.

The decision comes amid a broader, fast-moving shift in 2025 toward industrial exploitation of seabed metals that power batteries, electronics and advanced weapons. From the western Pacific to Washington, D.C., governments and companies are moving from pilot projects to commercial strategies, brushing aside unresolved environmental questions and objections from many Indigenous coastal communities.

Japan’s trial extraction plan

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the trial will target mud deposits roughly 6,000 meters below sea level near Minamitori, an uninhabited coral atoll some 1,800 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. Geologists have long known the area holds high concentrations of rare-earth elements—particularly terbium, dysprosium and yttrium—used in magnets, lasers and next-generation semiconductors. By approving test operations, Tokyo hopes to verify commercial viability and reduce its near-total dependence on Chinese rare-earth exports, the Reuters article noted.

Details of the operation have not been publicly released, but officials indicated that a specialty drilling vessel will collect ore-laden sludge from the seafloor, pump it to the surface and transport samples to shore-based laboratories. The government will supervise environmental monitoring and require operators to document disturbances to sediments and marine life, though specific thresholds remain under debate.

Washington’s unilateral turn

Japan’s move parallels a dramatic policy pivot in the United States. In April 2025 the Trump administration declared that American firms have a unilateral right to mine in international waters, a position that bypasses the United Nations-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA). The White House framed the announcement as essential to ending U.S. dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains for manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel—metals considered indispensable for electric-vehicle batteries, advanced missiles and fighter-jet components.

The Metals Company, an exploration outfit publicly listed since 2021, has become the emblem of that strategy. Its share price, which had plunged from an initial $11.05 to just $0.55 amid regulatory uncertainty, rebounded to $7.89 in late 2025—a tenfold rise within 12 months—even though the firm remains unprofitable and does not expect sales revenue before at least 2027 while federal permits are still pending. Chief Financial Officer Craig Shesky credited the surge to Washington’s commitment to securing diversified mineral supply chains, saying the company now sits at the nexus of national security and climate goals.

Largest proposed U.S. mining zones

Federal leasing proposals now cover more than 104 million acres of seabed—an expanse roughly equal to California’s land area. The bulk lies in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone south of Hawaiʻi, but additional tracts include:

• 35.5 million acres near the Marianas Trench in waters associated with the Cook Islands
• 33 million acres off American Samoa
• 35 million acres east of the Northern Mariana Islands

These areas harbor vast fields of polymetallic nodules—black, potato-sized rocks that contain high concentrations of nickel, cobalt and manganese. Industry advocates argue that harvesting nodules is more energy-efficient and less environmentally damaging than land-based mining, yet peer-reviewed studies complicate that narrative.

Science raises red flags

A United Kingdom team that revisited a 1970s test site found the seabed still scarred after more than 40 years. Hawaiian researchers demonstrated that mining-related sediment plumes reduced plankton’s energy intake, undermining the base of the oceanic food web. Another study documented a 37 percent decline in worms, mollusks and similar bottom dwellers within two months of disturbance. Although The Metals Company financed much of the newer field research, it disputes conclusions that the impacts are long-lasting or unmanageable.

Indigenous Pacific voices

Opposition inside U.S. Pacific territories has grown steadily. Sheila Babauta, a Chamorro-Pohnpeian conservation advocate from the Northern Mariana Islands, said the federal process reproduces colonial patterns because local political leaders were not consulted before permit notices appeared, and because public comment windows were capped at 30 days despite requests for 120 days. Legislatures in both the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam formally asked Washington for more time, warning that residents lacked the resources to analyze thousands of pages of technical documents.

American Samoa’s government went further, unanimously rejecting any mining across 18 million acres of its waters. Officials cited the centrality of tuna exports—99.5 percent of the territory’s export earnings—and the spiritual significance of the surrounding ocean. The federal response was to expand the proposed mining zone to roughly 33 million acres, escalating local unease.

Blue Ocean Law, a Guam-based public-interest firm, argued in written testimony that seafloor extraction would cause irreversible injuries to Indigenous food systems, cultural practices and ancestral navigation routes, all while funneling profits to mainland investors. Median household incomes across the territories remain less than half the U.S. mainland average, and many residents cannot open brokerage accounts because address-verification algorithms do not recognize local postal codes—sharpening perceptions that they will bear ecological costs without sharing in financial rewards.

Corporate competition heats up

New entrants are chasing the same metal-rich nodules. Impossible Metals, a five-year-old startup, promotes robot swarms programmed to pluck surface nodules gently rather than dredging trenches. The company has floated a voluntary one-percent profit share with host jurisdictions, but no legal framework requires such distribution.

Meanwhile, The Metals Company continues to lobby for accelerated permitting. The firm says it has invested more than $100 million in environmental studies and aims to submit a mining plan to the U.S. Interior Department by late 2026. If approved, full-scale operations could begin in 2028, although independent analysts caution that litigation from environmental and Indigenous groups may delay any start date.

Environmental oversight gap

Because the Trump administration’s unilateral posture rejects ISA authority, the United States must craft its own environmental rules for international waters. Agencies are still debating baseline research standards, monitoring technology and liability for accidental releases of heavy-metal-laden sediment plumes. Critics note that federal ocean-mining statutes remain decades out of date and do not address emerging science on deep-sea ecosystems. Japan, by contrast, has pledged to coordinate its Minamitori test under existing national environmental laws and publish the results, though activists argue that full transparency is unlikely without independent observers on board.

Analysis: a race outpacing regulation

The flurry of announcements in 2025 underscores a geopolitical scramble reminiscent of mid-twentieth-century oil exploration. Japan’s venture signals that even technologically advanced, resource-scarce nations no longer trust conventional supply chains dominated by China. The U.S. stance adds a unilateral twist that could fracture multilateral governance of the high seas, while Indigenous communities warn of repeating colonial extractive models that externalize ecological harm.

For all the enthusiasm in capital markets—epitomized by The Metals Company’s stock rebound—commercial timelines hinge on regulatory clarity and social license to operate. If environmental baselines are inadequate or if early test sites produce visible ecological damage, financing could dry up as swiftly as it has flowed in. Conversely, a successful Japanese pilot may embolden other nations to move forward, amplifying pressure on the ISA and national governments to finalize enforceable standards.

What happens next

Japan expects initial core sampling results from Minamitori by late 2026, paving the way for a decision on commercial development. In the United States, the Interior Department is slated to release draft environmental-impact guidelines in early 2026, setting the stage for public hearings across Pacific territories. The Metals Company plans further investor presentations in the second quarter, while Impossible Metals will showcase its robots at a marine-tech exposition in Honolulu.

Whether these milestones converge into a regulated, relatively low-impact industry—or descend into fragmented exploitation—will depend on how quickly scientific data, community voices and geopolitical interests can be reconciled. For now, the only certainty is that the race to the ocean floor is accelerating faster than the rules meant to govern it.

Sources

• https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-test-mine-rare-earth-mud-deep-seabed-2025-12-23/