Subsea mineral explorer and developer Deep Sea Minerals (CSE:SEAS) is actively pursuing offshore critical minerals initiatives, including concession pathways within the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone and US permitting initiatives.
The company believes the US regulatory framework entered a material inflection point in January 2025, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced revisions intended to modernise and consolidate the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA) permitting process.
Subsequently, a federally funded hydrographic survey was launched exceeding 30,000km2 nautical miles offshore American Samoa as part of the US offshore critical minerals mapping plan.
Together, Deep Sea Minerals says these actions represent a shift toward a more structured, data-supported, and administratively defined offshore permitting environment under US jurisdiction.
At the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EZZ), the company is executing across multiple parallel workstreams, including jurisdictional and regulatory positioning, evaluation of concession and application frameworks, technical and scientific across marine services, data acquisition, and downstream processing.
CEO James Deckelman says the US Government’s actions reinforce the critical minerals imperative and validates the company’s strategic focus.
“US collaboration with the Cook Islands Government attests to the nation’s critical minerals importance, consistent with Deep Sea’s evaluation of this area,” Deckelman says.
Arthur D. Little Principal Ilya Epikhim previously told Mining.com.au that deep-sea mining could begin to ramp up from late 2026 to early 2027, following US President Trump’s executive order in April.
“That said, mining at true commercial scale is more likely in 2027-2028,” he told this news service.
“Current nodule lifting tests have only been conducted at relatively small volumes, and the full system still needs to be tested at scale. A ramp-up period will be unavoidable.
“Sustainability will hinge on system design, monitoring, and whether large-scale operations can demonstrate materially lower environmental and social impact compared to terrestrial mining.”
Epikhim adds that the revised framework allows for a combined exploration and mining licence, enabling engineering development, environmental assessment, and financing to proceed in parallel rather than sequentially.
“NOAA has effectively created a single on-ramp: one application that unlocks both exploration and recovery. This is what brings late 2026 into the realm of possibility,” he tells this news service.
Deep-sea mining refers to the process of extracting mineral deposits from the ocean floor, typically at depths greater than 200m.
Further, Deep Sea Minerals has uplisted from the OTC Pink Market to the OTCQB Venture Market. The OTCQB Venture Market is designed for early stage and developing companies and provides increased visibility, improved liquidity, and enhanced disclosure standards for investors.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Deep Sea Minerals
