Topics Archives

onDecember 30, 2025

Thorium Tracing

Key points A new peer-reviewed study in Nature used in-field thorium-tracing data to test claims that seafloor sediment plumes travel “thousands of kilometers,” a claim the study says was never grounded in scientific data. Thorium, a radionuclide naturally present in sediment,…

onDecember 29, 2025

Webinar: Introducing v7 of the Impossible Metals Techno Economic Model

Key points CTO/COO and co-founder Jason Gillham presents version 7 of the techno-economic model, which aligns with TMC’s NORI prefeasibility study and adopts an 8% weighted average cost of capital. At peak economics, Eureka 3 is modeled to collect 2.25 million wet tons per year at $110…

onDecember 18, 2025

Midwater Plumes – What does the data tell us?

Key points TMC’s 2022 test mining campaign found up to 98% of sediment entrained during nodule collection returns directly to the seafloor, with more than 95% settling within 1-2 kilometers of the collector vehicle. The midwater plume, released at 2,000 meters depth, dilutes to…

onDecember 12, 2025

BOEM Initiates Process for Potential Mineral Lease Sale Offshore Virginia

BOEM began the process for a potential Virginia offshore mineral lease sale after a request from Odyssey Marine Exploration.

onDecember 8, 2025

How the Eureka Collection System Selectively Collects Polymetallic Nodules from the Seabed

Key points The Eureka Collection System uses underwater robots with camera-based artificial intelligence to selectively pick polymetallic nodules from the seabed while avoiding visible life and minimizing sediment disturbance, leaving a large percentage of nodules untouched. A full…

Regulations

onDecember 3, 2025

Norway Freezes Arctic Seabed Mining Plans After Budget Deal

Norway froze all Arctic seabed mining licensing rounds through 2025 in a budget deal with the Socialist Left Party.

onNovember 25, 2025

Deep Sea Mining Debate

Key points The debate pits Impossible Metals CEO Oliver Gunasekara, arguing seabed mining is essential to meet growing metal demand, against Caladan Capital’s Victor Vescovo, arguing against, moderated by Eric Young. Gunasekara says Impossible Metals’ robot removes only about 6%…