` marker. Import it as-is into Claude / Gemini / any agent: paste this file as base knowledge. Links between concepts are bundle-relative (/labs/x.md). --> --- okf_version: 2.0.0 title: OKF bundle — scope public source: askmojo scope: public concept_counts: output: 1 --- # OKF bundle (scope `public`) Open Knowledge Format v2.0.0 bundle — markdown + YAML frontmatter. The AskMojo database stays the source of truth; this bundle is an exported view filtered by scope. ## Concepts - **output** : 1 ## Indexes - [outputs](/outputs/index.md) --- scope: public --- # Log Historique des changements de visibilité / publication (dates ISO). _Aucun évènement de publication horodaté._ --- type: output title: One Company Just Cleared Its Last Hurdle to Mine 65,000 km² of Virgin Ocean Floor resource: /o/3416cdf7-2423-4e4c-b500-3610d40edca6 timestamp: '2026-07-11T10:57:23.530Z' visibility: public --- # One Company Just Cleared Its Last Hurdle to Mine 65,000 km² of Virgin Ocean Floor # One Company Just Cleared Its Last Hurdle to Mine 65,000 km² of Virgin Ocean Floor The Metals Company (TMC) just cleared its final US regulatory hurdle to start mining 65,000 km² of untouched Pacific seafloor, a stretch of ocean holding one of the densest concentrations of undiscovered species on the planet. It did not wait for the international body meant to govern the deep sea. It used an obscure 1980 US law instead, and in May 2026 NOAA signed off. ## The facts - TMC's US subsidiary filed a consolidated application for an exploration licence plus a commercial recovery permit covering **~65,000 km²** of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), the Pacific abyssal plain between Hawaii and Mexico. NOAA found it in "substantial compliance" in March 2026, then "full compliance" in May 2026, moving it into certification. TMC expects a final permit decision **before the end of Q1 2027** ([eco Magazine](https://ecomagazine.com/news/policy/noaa-determines-tmc-usas-consolidated-deep-seabed-mining-application-is-in-substantial-compliance/); [TMC investor release](https://investors.metals.co/news-releases/news-release-details/noaa-determines-tmc-usas-consolidated-deep-seabed-mining-0/)). - TMC is routing around the **International Seabed Authority (ISA)**, the body 170+ countries rely on to govern the deep sea, by using the US **1980 Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act**, since the US was never a party to the ISA ([Federal Register, Dec 2025](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/23/2025-23795/deep-seabed-mining-notice-of-receipt-of-applications-for-deep-seabed-mining-exploration-licenses-and)). - While TMC advances outside the ISA, the ISA itself is meeting in Kingston, Jamaica right now (**13-24 July 2026**) to negotiate the "Mining Code" that would govern commercial extraction everywhere else. Its March 2026 session ended with **no finalised code and no exploitation approved** ([IISD summary](https://enb.iisd.org/international-seabed-authority-isa-council-31-1-summary)). - **31 exploration contracts** already cover parts of the CCZ; a single nodule-mining operation strips roughly **8,000-9,000 km² of seabed over a 30-year licence**, and the sediment plumes it kicks up can travel **tens to hundreds of kilometres**, smothering life far outside the mined area ([Deep Sea Conservation Coalition](https://deep-sea-conservation.org/key-threats/)).  ## Who is affected The CCZ is one of the least-catalogued ecosystems on Earth, and mining would hit it before science finishes describing it. A 2023 census recorded **5,578 species** in the zone, of which only 436 are formally named, an estimated **88-92% new to science** ([Current Biology](https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)00534-1)). Many depend on the nodules themselves as irreplaceable hard habitat, including the ghostly "Casper" octopus, which lays its eggs on sponge stalks anchored to nodules that take millions of years to form.  ## Trajectory **Worsening.** TMC's unilateral US track is accelerating toward a permit while the ISA's international safeguards are still unresolved, meaning the first extraction path may open before any global rulebook is finished. ## Protect the ocean - **Share this brief.** Almost no one outside ocean policy circles has heard of TMC or the CCZ, visibility is the first pressure point on a decision being made in a US regulatory process, not a public vote. - **Support Oceana**, which campaigns directly against opening new frontiers to extractive industry and pushes regulators to close exactly this kind of loophole. [oceana.org](https://oceana.org) - Watch the ISA's Kingston session (through 24 July, Assembly 27-31 July) for its next public update, and follow the moratorium coalition of 40+ governments pushing for a precautionary pause. ## Who is acting **40+ governments**, including Mexico, Brazil and the UK, back a precautionary moratorium on deep-sea mining. The **Center for Biological Diversity** is urging Kingston delegates to hold the line against industry pressure. The **Deep Sea Conservation Coalition** is tracking the negotiations and flagging compliance concerns. Scientists at NHM London and the ISA's own "One Thousand Reasons" campaign are racing to name CCZ species before mining begins, to establish the biodiversity baseline extraction would erase. ## Sources - [eco Magazine, NOAA compliance determination](https://ecomagazine.com/news/policy/noaa-determines-tmc-usas-consolidated-deep-seabed-mining-application-is-in-substantial-compliance/) · [TMC investor release](https://investors.metals.co/news-releases/news-release-details/noaa-determines-tmc-usas-consolidated-deep-seabed-mining-0/) - [Federal Register, DSHMRA applications](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/23/2025-23795/deep-seabed-mining-notice-of-receipt-of-applications-for-deep-seabed-mining-exploration-licenses-and) - [ISA, 31st Session Part II](https://isa.org.jm/session-31-council-part-2-july-2026/) · [IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin](https://enb.iisd.org/international-seabed-authority-isa-council-31-1-summary) - [Center for Biological Diversity, 10 July 2026](https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/nations-meeting-in-jamaica-urged-to-maintain-deep-sea-mining-moratorium-2026-07-10/) - [Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Key Threats](https://deep-sea-conservation.org/key-threats/) - [Rabone et al., Current Biology 2023, CCZ biodiversity census](https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)00534-1) - [Wikipedia, Clarion-Clipperton zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion%E2%80%93Clipperton_zone) INDEX: threat=deep-sea mining | zone=Clarion-Clipperton Zone (Pacific) | severity=serious | trend=worsening ## Share this 1. One company just cleared its last hurdle to mine 65,000 km² of ocean floor no one has ever touched. 2. It didn't ask the international body that governs the deep sea. It used a 44-year-old US law instead. 3. The zone holds 5,578 known species. Over 88% of them have no name yet. Mining could start before science finishes describing them. 4. The company is The Metals Company. NOAA cleared it in May 2026. A permit could land by Q1 2027. 5. Share this, and support Oceana, they're fighting to close loopholes exactly like this one: oceana.org --- title: Outputs description: Outputs index count: 1 --- # Outputs - [One Company Just Cleared Its Last Hurdle to Mine 65,000 km² of Virgin Ocean Floor](/outputs/3416cdf7-2423-4e4c-b500-3610d40edca6.md) (`public`)