Seabed regulator extends mining exploration deal as rules stall

The ISA renewed a criticized deep-sea exploration contract for five years while again failing to finalize commercial mining rules.

At its July 13-24 council meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, the International Seabed Authority extended a deep-sea mining exploration contract for NORI, a subsidiary of The Metals Company, granting an additional five years to explore contracted Pacific seabed blocks. The ISA found NORI met all renewal criteria. At the same session, the 36-member council again failed to finalize the rules needed for commercial seabed mining—a code it has been drafting since 2014, with negotiations now pushed to March 2027.

The backdrop is contested. In 2025 TMC sought exploration and exploitation permits from the U.S. agency NOAA under a 1980 domestic law whose standing under international law is disputed. The ISA opened a compliance inquiry into TMC in July 2025; NORI and a sister company took the ISA to the international tribunal ITLOS, which ruled on July 18 that the inquiry could continue but must respect the companies' due-process rights. Forty-five countries have called for a moratorium or precautionary pause.

For the commons, this is a setback dressed as procedure. Extending exploration rights while safeguards remain unwritten risks locking in access to a shared seabed before the rules meant to protect it exist. The deep ocean is a resource held in common, and once damaged it does not recover on human timescales.

Watch NOAA's pending decision on TMC's applications and the March 2027 session. Observers, including Greenpeace's Louisa Casson and Oceano Azul's Pradeep Singh, say the mining code remains far from finished despite earlier promises.

Source: Mongabay