National Initiatives

Japan will run a full-scale test off Minamitorishima in February 2027, lifting rare-earth mud from about 6,000 meters down.

American Samoa's governor formed a Deep-Sea Minerals Steering Committee to oversee seabed mineral activity and transshipment plans.

China has begun building a 78,000-tonne floating platform that will serve as a seabed mining test range, completing by 2030.

China published a national atlas mapping deep-sea mineral deposits in the East China and Yellow Seas, built from two decades of research.

China is bidding to host the High Seas Treaty secretariat in Xiamen, backed by $70 million, challenging Chile and Belgium.

Chinese deep-sea research vessels spent just 6% of their time in ISA mining zones, raising suspicion of spy activity, per Mongabay and CNN.

The US and Japan signed a March 19, 2026 deep-sea minerals cooperation deal targeting rare earths near Minamitorishima Island.

Japan's deep sea rare earth vessel returned to port after retrieving mud from 6,000 meters near Minamitorishima, ahead of a new trial.

Japan recovered rare earth-rich seabed sediment from 6,000 metres near Minami-Torishima, a world-first test using the vessel Chikyu.

Japan's drillship Chikyu began a month-long test to recover rare earth mud near Minamitori Island amid rising China supply risk.