The Metals Company
A Canadian deep-sea mining exploration company developing systems to collect polymetallic nodules from the Pacific seabed.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Metals Company, commonly known as TMC and formerly called DeepGreen Metals, is a Canadian deep-sea mining exploration company. Its business model is based on collecting polymetallic nodules from the floor of the Clarion–Clipperton Zone (CCZ), an extensive area of international seabed between Hawaii and Mexico, and processing them for metals used in batteries, electrical infrastructure, power generation, and industrial manufacturing. The nodules contain nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese, although the company does not yet operate a commercial production business. DeepGreen Metals was established in 2011. Its early strategy combined corporate development with contracts held through sponsored entities under the regulatory framework of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), sponsored by Nauru, received an ISA exploration contract in 2011 and remains a wholly owned subsidiary of TMC. The company later acquired Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML), expanding its exploration interests in the CCZ, and established a commercial relationship with MARAWA, the Kiribati-sponsored contractor. Together, these arrangements gave TMC access to several exploration contract areas, subject to sponsorship, ISA rules, and the eventual approval of exploitation plans. The company’s development has included partnerships with established industrial and maritime businesses. In 2012, Glencore agreed to purchase a share of future nickel and copper production from the NORI contract area. In 2019, Allseas became an investor and technology partner, contributing funding toward large-scale feasibility work and supporting the development of collection and lifting systems. In 2021, DeepGreen merged with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company. The transaction took the combined business public, and the resulting company adopted the name The Metals Company and began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol TMC. TMC’s proposed system uses a remotely operated collector vehicle on the seabed, a riser and lifting system connected to a surface vessel, and onboard handling before transport to an onshore processing facility. The company describes nodules as an alternative source of battery metals that could reduce some impacts associated with conventional land-based mining, including excavation, deforestation, waste rock, and tailings. It has commissioned environmental studies and life-cycle analyses to support that argument. Critics, however, contend that disturbing slow-growing deep-ocean ecosystems may cause long-lasting or irreversible biodiversity loss and that seabed mining is not sufficiently understood to justify commercial deployment. The company’s principal project is NORI-D in the CCZ. In 2022, NORI submitted an environmental impact statement for an integrated collection-system test and received permission to conduct trials after stakeholder consultation. TMC has reported numerous offshore research campaigns as part of its environmental and social impact assessment. In 2025, it also submitted applications to United States authorities for a commercial recovery permit and two exploration licences under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, following a U.S. executive action supporting offshore mineral development. These applications do not establish that commercial recovery has been approved. TMC remains a development-stage company whose prospects depend on technical performance, financing, metal prices, processing economics, environmental evidence, sponsorship arrangements, and the evolution of international and national regulation. The ISA has continued negotiating a comprehensive exploitation code, while governments, scientists, environmental organizations, manufacturers, and investors remain divided over whether deep-sea mining should proceed, be paused, or be prohibited.
History
The Metals Company originated as DeepGreen Metals, founded in 2011 to investigate the commercial recovery of polymetallic nodules from the deep Pacific seabed. That year, the International Seabed Authority granted exploration contracts to Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited. NORI, sponsored by Nauru, became a wholly owned subsidiary of DeepGreen and remains the company’s principal project vehicle. The contracts concern areas in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone, where nodules occur on the abyssal seafloor at depths of roughly four to six kilometres. DeepGreen developed an international contract and partnership structure. In 2012, Glencore agreed to acquire a share of future nickel and copper production from the NORI area. In 2015, the ISA approved an exploration contract for MARAWA, sponsored by Kiribati, and MARAWA entered an exclusive commercial arrangement with DeepGreen. Gerard Barron became chairman and chief executive in 2017. The following year, marine scientist Gregory Stone joined as chief ocean scientist and a board director, reinforcing the company’s scientific and environmental program. A major financing and technology relationship was formed in 2019 when Allseas became an investor and partner, providing $150 million for large-scale feasibility studies. In 2020, DeepGreen acquired TOML from Deep Sea Mining Finance, bringing an additional CCZ exploration interest into the group. The NORI, TOML, and MARAWA areas together formed the foundation of the company’s proposed regional development model. In 2021, DeepGreen merged with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, in a transaction reported at approximately $2.9 billion. The combined company was renamed The Metals Company and listed on Nasdaq as TMC. The public listing gave the business access to capital markets but also exposed its development timetable, technical assumptions, and environmental claims to public scrutiny. The company hired Bjarke Ingels Group to help design robotic collection vehicles and surface vessels for a proposed integrated mining system. Nauru’s 2021 notification to the ISA that it intended to sponsor an exploitation application brought the project into sharper regulatory focus. Under the applicable seabed-law framework, the notification placed pressure on the ISA to complete rules, regulations, and procedures for commercial exploitation. The ISA’s prolonged negotiations became a central uncertainty for TMC, because exploration contracts do not by themselves authorize commercial mining. In 2022, NORI submitted an environmental impact statement for a planned integrated collection-system test in the NORI-D area. Following consultation, the company received permission to conduct trials. TMC subsequently reported a series of offshore research campaigns supporting its environmental and social impact assessment. In 2023, it commissioned Benchmark Mineral Intelligence to model the life-cycle impacts of the first NORI-D project. The resulting analysis, funded by TMC, reported lower impacts than several land-based routes in many categories, a conclusion that TMC has used to support its sustainability positioning. The company’s development has generated sustained opposition. Scientists and environmental groups have warned that removing nodules and creating sediment plumes could damage poorly understood ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and cause effects lasting for decades or longer. Industry observers have also questioned whether commercial collection, lifting, dewatering, transport, and onshore processing can be performed reliably and economically. TMC has responded that nodule collection could avoid some land-mining impacts and has called for evidence-based regulation and further dialogue. In 2025, TMC submitted applications to U.S. authorities for a commercial recovery permit and two exploration licences under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act. The applications represented an effort to pursue a national regulatory pathway alongside the ISA process, but they did not resolve the company’s technical, environmental, or commercial risks. The company remains an active exploration and development enterprise rather than an established producer. Its future depends on regulatory authorization, environmental findings, engineering demonstrations, financing, market demand, and the outcome of continuing public and legal disputes.
- 2025
U.S. permit and licence applications
[1]TMC applies for a commercial recovery permit and two exploration licences under U.S. seabed-mining law.
- 2023
Commissioned life-cycle analysis
[1]Benchmark Mineral Intelligence models the environmental effects of the proposed NORI-D project.
- 2022
NORI environmental impact statement
[1]NORI submits an environmental impact statement for an integrated collection-system test in NORI-D.
- 2021
SPAC merger and public listing
[1]DeepGreen combines with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. and becomes The Metals Company, trading on Nasdaq as TMC.
- 2020
Acquisition of TOML
[1]DeepGreen acquires Tonga Offshore Mining Limited and its associated CCZ exploration interest.
- 2019
Allseas investment and partnership
[1]Allseas invests in DeepGreen and partners on large-scale feasibility studies.
- 2017
Gerard Barron becomes chairman and CEO
[1]Barron assumes the company’s top executive and board leadership role.
- 2015
MARAWA commercial relationship
[1]The Kiribati-sponsored MARAWA contractor enters an exclusive commercial arrangement with DeepGreen.
- 2012
Glencore production agreement
[1]Glencore agrees to purchase part of the future nickel and copper production from the NORI contract area.
- 2011
DeepGreen Metals is founded
[1]The company begins developing a deep-sea polymetallic nodule business and obtains access to the NORI exploration structure sponsored by Nauru.
Products and positioning
A technology-led developer presenting polymetallic nodule collection as a potentially lower-impact source of critical battery and industrial metals, while operating in a highly contested and not-yet-commercial sector.
Mineral resource
Polymetallic nodules
Rock-like mineral deposits lying on the abyssal seafloor and containing nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese. TMC’s proposed business is to collect these nodules rather than extract ore through conventional open-pit or underground mining. The company plans to use remotely operated vehicles, a lifting system, surface vessels, and onshore processing.
Deep-sea mining project · 2011
NORI-D project
TMC’s principal proposed development in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone, operated through wholly owned Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. The project is intended to test and eventually deploy an integrated collection system for nodules rich in nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese, subject to regulatory approval and environmental assessment.
Mining technology
Nodule collection system
A planned subsea and surface system using a tracked collector vehicle, a riser and lifting line, and a production vessel. Nodules would be gathered from the seabed, lifted to the surface, dewatered and stored, then transported for processing. The system remains a development-stage technology rather than an established commercial offering.
Controversies
2026
Lawsuit by American Metal
American Metal sued TMC, alleging unlawful intimidation related to competing proposals for mining in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone. The allegations are disputed or unresolved in the supplied material.
2025
Reported ecological effects of mining-vehicle test
A study funded by TMC reported that one month after a mining test, animal abundance in the affected area had declined by 37% and the number of species by 32%. The findings intensified scrutiny of the company’s environmental claims and of the effects of collector vehicles.
2024
Television scrutiny of TMC and its relationship with Nauru
An episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver criticized the economics and environmental risks of deep-sea mining and examined the power imbalance between TMC and Nauru. A Breakthrough Institute response disputed some environmental claims while acknowledging concerns about the relationship with developing countries.
Marketing campaigns
- 2023Life-cycle impact communications
Global
TMC publicized a Benchmark Mineral Intelligence life-cycle analysis comparing its proposed NORI-D operation with land-based metal production routes.
Outcome. The analysis supported TMC’s lower-impact positioning but remained contested because it was commissioned and funded by the company and did not settle broader ecological questions.
- 2023Open letter to ocean-conservation advocates
Global
TMC called for dialogue with ocean-conservation advocates and emphasized transparency, environmental responsibility, and collaboration in the debate over seabed mining.
Outcome. The letter did not resolve opposition to commercial deep-sea mining.
- 2021Open letter defending deep-sea mining
Global
After BMW, Volvo, Google, and Samsung SDI supported a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium, DeepGreen published an open letter defending its approach and arguing that nodule collection could provide metals with lower impacts than some land-based alternatives.
Outcome. The debate continued, with manufacturers, environmental groups, scientists, and industry advocates maintaining opposing positions.
Brand decisions
2025
Pursue a U.S. regulatory pathwayStrategyBackground
The U.S. administration adopted an offshore-mining policy, creating a possible national route alongside the ISA process.
Action taken
TMC submitted one commercial recovery permit application and two exploration licence applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act and related NOAA regulations.
Aftermath
The applications expanded TMC’s regulatory strategy but did not themselves authorize commercial mining or resolve international legal and environmental questions.
2022
Proceed with NORI-D collection-system testingOtherBackground
TMC needed environmental and engineering data before pursuing commercial-scale recovery.
Action taken
NORI submitted an environmental impact statement and received permission to conduct an integrated collection-system test after stakeholder consultation.
Aftermath
The test became part of TMC’s environmental and social impact assessment program and later attracted criticism concerning observed effects on deep-sea fauna.
2021
Merge with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp.M&ABackground
DeepGreen sought public-market financing and a route to becoming a listed company.
Action taken
The company completed a SPAC merger and changed its name to The Metals Company.
Aftermath
The combined company began trading on Nasdaq under TMC, while remaining a pre-revenue development-stage mining business.
Reported transaction value. 2.9 billion USD (2021)
Recent events
- 2025
The Metals Company submits U.S. offshore-mining applications[1]
Regulation
TMC applied for a commercial recovery permit and two exploration licences under U.S. seabed-mining law after a U.S. executive action concerning offshore mineral development.
- 2023
TMC publishes life-cycle analysis of proposed nodule project[1]
Other
A Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analysis commissioned by TMC modeled the environmental performance of the proposed NORI-D project and reported advantages over several land-based production routes.
- 2022
NORI submits environmental impact statement for collection-system test[1]
Regulation · Product launch
NORI submitted an environmental impact statement and was later permitted to conduct collection trials in the NORI-D area.
- 2021
DeepGreen becomes The Metals Company through SPAC merger[1]
M&A · Leadership change
The merger with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. created the publicly traded company now known as The Metals Company.
- 2021
Nauru notifies ISA of intended exploitation application[1]
Regulation · Other
Nauru notified the ISA of NORI’s intention to begin the exploitation-application process, intensifying debate over seabed-mining rules.
- 2020
TMC acquires Tonga Offshore Mining Limited[1]
M&A
DeepGreen acquired TOML, adding another exploration interest in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone.
- 2012
DeepGreen Metals enters future production agreement with Glencore[1]
Other
Glencore agreed to purchase a portion of future nickel and copper production from the NORI contract area.
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