Deep sea mining News

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109 stories

American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)

Jackie Dragon 1 Apr 2026
Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) mother and calf as seen from the air. Image by Christin Khan NOAA/NEFSC via Wikimedia. (CC BY-SA 4.0).

With high seas treaty in place, West African countries plan for protected area

Victoria Schneider 31 Mar 2026

China’s deep-sea mining fleet may also track US submarines

Elizabeth Claire Alberts, Kara Fox 24 Mar 2026

Deep-sea mining rules face delays despite urgent push

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 20 Mar 2026
A humpback whale breaching in Alaskan waters.

Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters

Anita Hofschneider 11 Feb 2026

A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jan 2026
This sea cucumbers belongs to the same family as sea pigs and swims in search of food and to escape predators. Behind it is a stalked glass sponge.

Deep-sea mining interests raise alarms among Mariana Trench communities

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 10 Dec 2025

Norway pauses deep-sea mining for four years

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 8 Dec 2025
Ofelia Samboni an Indigenous Yanacona member and landowner in Monclart, holds a stone containing copper. The stone was found in the river close to the mining area. Image by Antonio Cascio for Mongabay.

‘Clean energy is just one driver of mining’: Cleodie Rickard on critical minerals

Aimee Gabay 13 Nov 2025

Expedition charts Cook Islands seafloor, amid scrutiny over mining motives

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 6 Nov 2025

On first International Day of the Deep Seabed, we seek stewardship and consensus (commentary)

Leticia Carvalho 30 Oct 2025
A manta ray in the Indian Ocean.

Mining the deep-sea could further threaten endangered sharks and rays

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 20 Oct 2025
An oceanic white tip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) with pilot fish (Naucrates ductor). Image courtesy of Renata Romeo/Ocean Image Bank.

‘Super big deal’: High seas treaty reaches enough ratifications to become law

Edward Carver 23 Sep 2025
Equipment used in deep-sea mining. Photo by Richard Baron/The Metals Company

Deep-sea mining is a false solution to our challenges (commentary)

Pradeep Singh 19 Aug 2025
Banner image of a remotely operated vehicle KIEL 6000 holding a manganese nodule in the sought-after Clarion-Clipperton Zone by the ROV-Team/GEOMAR via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

UN meeting closes with no moratorium on deep-sea mining; groups lament

Kristine Sabillo 1 Aug 2025

A sales-pitch pivot brings deep-sea mining closer to reality

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 31 Jul 2025

Challenges persist in TMC’s bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 24 Jul 2025
Squat lobsters and soft coral in the deep sea.

U.S. federal agency clears ways for deep-sea mining — and companies are lining up

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 8 Jul 2025
Striped barracuda in Papua New Guinea.

PNG PM Marape rejects deep-sea mining even as provincial authorities try to revive project

Elizabeth Claire Alberts, John Cannon 16 Jun 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the High-Level inaugural dinner of the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC).

‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summit

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 11 Jun 2025
Humpback whales in Western Australia. Image courtesy of Emilie Ledwidge/Ocean Image Bank.

World Oceans Day: Scientists find new clues about frontiers of ocean life

Mongabay.com 6 Jun 2025
Two lithodid crabs exhibiting mating behavior while perched on top of a basaltic rocky outcrop with an anemone (Liponema sp.) and a white sponge in the background.

Only a tiny % of the deep seafloor has ever been visually observed: Study

Edward Carver 30 May 2025

Mining companies use legal loopholes to move forward without environmental licensing off the Brazilian coast

Maurício Angelo, Lúcio Lambranho 30 May 2025
A glass octopus, a nearly transparent species whose only visible features are its optic nerve, eyeballs and digestive tract.

The Metals Company applied to the U.S. for a deep-sea mining license

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 30 Apr 2025

Trump moves to begin deep-sea mining despite environmental and legal concerns

Bobby Bascomb 25 Apr 2025
A squat lobster in the deep sea.

With deep-sea mining plans in limbo, Norwegian companies fold or dig in

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 22 Apr 2025
Banner image of deep-sea corals on the ocean floor via NOAA (Public domain).

Global seabed regulator concerned by mining company’s unilateral actions

Kristine Sabillo 2 Apr 2025
Greenpeace activists from New Zealand and Mexico confront TMC’s deep-sea mining vessel, “Hidden Gem,” off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico, in 2022. Image by © Gustavo Graf / Greenpeace.

Deep-sea miner TMC seeks U.S. approval, potentially bypassing global regulator

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 28 Mar 2025
A new species of critically endangered guitar shark was identified off the coast of Tanzania. Image courtesy of The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census/Sergey Bogorodsky.

Scientists identify more than 800 new species in global Ocean Census

Shanna Hanbury 11 Mar 2025
A moray eel in the coral reefs of the Daymaniyat Islands, Oman.

2024’s top ocean news stories (commentary)

Alfredo Giron, Ana K. Spalding, Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, Asha de Vos, Cinda P. Scott, Josheena Naggea, Juan José Alava, Olivia Milloway, Rita Maria el Zaghloul 8 Jan 2025
Narwhal image by Газпром нефть via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

We need a North Pole Marine Reserve to secure a healthy future for Arctic waters (commentary)

6 Jan 2025

Norway kills first round of Arctic deep-sea mining permits amid opposition

Shanna Hanbury 3 Dec 2024

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