American Metal
American Metal Inc. is a Delaware company formed in 2025 to apply for United States seabed exploration licenses. It holds two applications with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the subsidiaries American Metal Resources LLC and SeaX Inc., covering 297,451 km² of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone between them. The group refers to itself in its filings as the American Metal & SeaX Group.
Its founders are the people who started the modern industry. The applications state that they founded Nautilus Minerals, Tonga Offshore Mining Limited and DeepGreen Resources, the company that became TMC. Robert Heydon is president and chief executive of American Metal.
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Overview
- American Metal Inc. and American Metal Resources LLC were formed in 2025 as special purpose vehicles, and the applications say so plainly rather than claiming an operating history.
- The two applications went to NOAA in August 2025 and were found fully compliant with the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act and its regulations.
- NOAA published both in the Federal Register on March 23, 2026, held a virtual hearing on each in April 2026, and closed written comments on May 22, 2026.
- NOAA stated that the two hold priority of right only in areas that do not conflict with an earlier-in-time applicant, so the ground that survives is the ground nobody filed on first.
- Neither a license nor a permit has been issued. These are applications.
- The group has not acquired vessels or collection equipment of its own. It has signed technical partners instead, and proposes to pay some of them in shares.
The applications
| Item | American Metal Resources | SeaX |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | American Metal Resources LLC | SeaX Inc. |
| Area | 147,756 km² | 149,695 km² in nine separate blocks |
| Location | Clarion-Clipperton Zone | Clarion-Clipperton Zone |
| Regime | United States, DSHMRA, administered by NOAA | United States, DSHMRA, administered by NOAA |
| Application received | August 7, 2025 | August 10, 2025 |
| Federal Register notice | March 23, 2026 | March 23, 2026 |
| Public hearing | April 21, 2026 | April 22, 2026 |
| Comments closed | May 22, 2026 | May 22, 2026 |
| Docket | NOAA-NOS-2026-0034 | NOAA-NOS-2026-0035 |
| Status | Under review, no license issued | Under review, no license issued |
The two areas are adjacent parts of the same program rather than separate businesses, which is why the group presents them together. Neither application publishes a resource estimate. American Metal states that it does not yet know where the high-abundance deposits inside its application area are, which is the thing the exploration program is meant to establish.
Technical partners
The group’s answer to owning no equipment is a set of named partners, disclosed to NOAA in August 2025 in support of the applications.
| Partner | Role |
|---|---|
| Deep Reach Technology, Houston | Ocean engineering consultancy, proposed to act as owner’s engineer on the design of the nodule harvesting and transport system. |
| Trendsetter Engineering, Houston | Subsea equipment and engineering. Party to an alliance for the design, build and deployment of a nodule harvesting and riser system, and to become a shareholder of American Metal Inc. |
| Vulcan Offshore | Party to the same alliance, and also to become a shareholder of American Metal Inc. |
Ownership
American Metal Inc. is private and publishes no register. The applications describe it as the parent of American Metal Resources LLC and SeaX Inc., and say the company has attracted mining and offshore companies as shareholders. They also disclose that shares are to be issued to technical partners in exchange for vessels and services, naming Trendsetter Engineering and Vulcan Offshore. No percentages are filed, and none are inferred here.
Listed exposure
There is none. American Metal Inc. is private, both applicants are its subsidiaries, and no listed company has disclosed a stake. The founders’ earlier companies are a different matter: Nautilus Minerals is covered on its own profile and DeepGreen became The Metals Company, which trades on Nasdaq. Neither is a route into this company.