Key points
- American Metal Resources LLC and SeaX Inc., both subsidiaries of American Metal, filed the applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980.
- American Metal announced the certification on Friday, October 16, 2026, for areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone between Hawaii and Mexico.
- As filed, the two applications covered 297,451 square kilometers combined, while Reuters reported about 270,000 square kilometers for the certified areas.
- NOAA must still complete an environmental review, which may include a public hearing, and Reuters reported the licenses may not be final until next year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, has certified two applications from American Metal to explore for polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. The company announced the certification on Friday, October 16, 2026, Reuters reported. The applications cover about 270,000 square kilometers (104,000 square miles) of international seabed between Hawaii and Mexico.
- The applicants are American Metal Resources LLC and SeaX Inc., both subsidiaries of the privately held American Metal.
- Both seek exploration licenses under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980, DSHMRA. An exploration license covers surveying and sampling. Commercial mining needs a separate commercial recovery permit.
- Certification is not the license. NOAA must still complete an environmental review, which may include a public hearing. Reuters reported that the licenses may not be final until next year.
- As filed, the two applications covered 147,756 and 149,695 square kilometers, or 297,451 square kilometers together. The 270,000 figure is the one Reuters reported for the certified applications. NOAA has not yet posted the certification on its deep seabed mining page.
American Metal did not apply for a commercial recovery permit at the same time. NOAA’s rules have allowed a combined application since January 21, 2026, and TMC USA has filed one. American Metal told Reuters it does not yet have adequate data on the seabed. Chief executive David Ruddell said his goal is to obtain a commercial mining permit within three years.
The exploration licenses would let the company survey its areas and choose where to apply to mine. The applications state that American Metal does not yet know where the high-abundance nodule deposits inside its areas lie. Finding them is the purpose of the exploration program.
Why it matters
NOAA has certified one earlier application under DSHMRA. It was TMC USA’s exploration application USA-B, covering 121,830.2 square kilometers, certified on May 26, 2026. NOAA began an environmental impact statement on USA-B on August 17, 2026. Two conservation groups sued NOAA over that certification on September 30, 2026, in the US District Court for the District of Hawaii. No commercial recovery permit has yet been issued under the Act.
The certified areas lie in waters the International Seabed Authority, ISA, regulates under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Reuters noted that the administration’s use of the 1980 law to license international seabed sets up a clash with the ISA. The United States has not ratified the convention.
The Congressional Research Service reported in June 2026 that both applications overlap reserved areas, which the ISA holds for developing countries and for its own mining arm, the Enterprise. It also reported that the American Metal Resources area overlaps part of another company’s application to NOAA. The companies stated in their applications that they do not expect conflicts. NOAA said in March that the two hold priority of right only where they do not conflict with an earlier applicant.
Background
NOAA received the amended American Metal Resources application on August 7, 2025 and the amended SeaX application on August 10, 2025. It found both fully compliant with the Act’s information requirements and published them in the Federal Register on March 23, 2026. Virtual public hearings followed on April 21 and April 22. Written comments closed on May 26 after a four-day extension.
American Metal Inc. is a Delaware company formed in 2025 for these applications. The applications state that its founders previously founded Nautilus Minerals, Tonga Offshore Mining Limited and DeepGreen Resources, the company that became The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC). It does not own vessels or collection equipment.
The applications are part of a wider US push. President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14285 of April 24, 2025 directed agencies to speed up seabed mineral permitting. NOAA’s revised DSHMRA rules took effect on January 21, 2026. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on September 14, 2026 that the first US seabed permits could come within months.
What to watch
- NOAA’s environmental review of the two applications, the step that remains before licenses can be issued.
- November 27, 2026: deadline for the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s review of both applications, which NOAA requested on July 30, 2026.
- Publication of the certified areas by NOAA. The applications as filed covered 297,451 square kilometers. Reuters put the certified area at about 270,000.
- A commercial recovery permit application from American Metal, which Ruddell has said the company aims to secure within three years.
Source document: NOAA, Notice of Receipt of Applications for Deep Seabed Mining Exploration Licenses, Federal Register, March 23, 2026.
