"Canadian miner looms large as Nauru expedites key deep-sea mining rules", 27 July 2021

A Canadian company may become the first to receive a license to mine the deep Pacific after the island nation of Nauru triggered a last-resort procedure to expedite the creation of standards governing deep-sea mining.

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Nauru, which sponsors a subsidiary of Canada-based The Metals Company (previously known as DeepGreen) to mine manganese nodules in the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, told the ISA at the end of June that the company would apply to mine the deep sea, setting a two-year deadline to complete exploitation regulations.

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TMC owns two other companies that intend to mine the seabed, sponsored by Tonga and Kiribati, two other Pacific Island nations. The company’s Nauru subsidiary is Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI). TMC plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the third quarter of this year. The U.S., where the stock will be traded, has not signed the UNCLOS, and so is not bound by ISA rules. TMC has told investors that it plans to begin mining in 2024. Michael Lodge, the secretary-general of the ISA, told the BBC earlier this month that mining would only start around 2026.

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