NOAA determines Metals Company consolidated application in full compliance

Metals Company (TMC) announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has determined that the consolidated application submitted by the company’s subsidiary, The Metals Company USA, for an exploration license and commercial recovery permit under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, or DSHMRA, is in full compliance with the requirements of the act and its implementing regulations. The determination of full compliance follows the determination of substantial compliance in March. The consolidated application now moves into the certification stage of the review process and will be posted to the Federal Register. Following certification, a draft environmental impact statement for TMC USA’s project will be published for public comment. Following the public comment period, the EIS will be finalized and NOAA will make a final determination on whether to issue the license and permit. TMC USA expects the process will conclude before the end of Q1 2027. Earlier this year, TMC USA submitted a consolidated application for an exploration license and a commercial recovery permit for polymetallic nodules in international waters of the Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean. The application was filed under NOAA’s new consolidated application and review process and represents the first submission of its kind. It covers a 65,000 kilometer squared exploration and commercial recovery area in the CCZ, compared to a commercial recovery area of 25,000 kilometer squared in TMC USA’s initial commercial recovery permit application from April.