Deep-sea mining

Also called: Seabed mining · Topic: Primary Activities: Gathering, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Mining · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Deep-sea mining (also called seabed mining) means digging up minerals from the deep ocean floor, usually at depths of 3,000–6,000 m. The main minerals are polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich crusts and polymetallic sulphides. In the part of the seabed that lies beyond any country's control, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) regulates the activity. So far the ISA has given only exploration contracts. It has not yet adopted rules for commercial mining.

It matters because these deposits hold cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese and rare earths. These metals are needed for batteries, electric vehicles and clean energy. That puts the ocean floor at the centre of the critical-minerals race and of the debate over the global commons (areas that belong to no single country).

Explanation

Three types of seabed mineral and how they form

Each mineral type is linked to a particular feature of the ocean floor.

Type	Where found (relief feature)	Main metals
Polymetallic nodules	Abyssal plains (the flat, deep ocean floor)	Manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper
Cobalt-rich crusts	Flanks of seamounts (underwater mountains)	Cobalt, manganese, nickel, platinum, REEs
Polymetallic sulphides (PMS)	Mid-ocean ridges, around hydrothermal vents	Copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver

• How nodules form:
• They are potato-sized lumps lying on the abyssal plain.
• Metals dissolved in seawater slowly stick to them, layer by layer.

• They grow only a few mm per million years. Once removed, they will not come back on any human timescale.

• How sulphides form:

• At mid-ocean ridges, seawater seeps into the hot rock and heats up.
• This hot, mineral-rich water gushes out of hydrothermal vents (cracks in the seabed that release hot water).

• The water cools on meeting cold seawater, and metal sulphides settle out as deposits.

• Cobalt-rich crusts form as hard coatings on the rocky slopes of seamounts.

The legal set-up: the "Area" and the ISA

• The "Area":
• This is the seabed and the ground below it beyond national jurisdiction, which means beyond any country's continental shelf.
• Under UNCLOS Part XI (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea), its resources are the "common heritage of mankind".
• This means no country can own them, and the benefits must be shared among all.

• The 1994 Implementation Agreement changed Part XI so that industrial countries would accept it.

• International Seabed Authority (ISA):

• It was set up in 1994 and is based in Kingston, Jamaica.
• It gives exploration contracts to countries and to companies that countries sponsor.
• It has no mining code yet. A mining code is the set of rules needed before commercial extraction can begin.
• Some countries and scientists want a moratorium (a temporary ban) because mining could harm deep-sea ecosystems.

Why it is in the news: demand and the US move outside the ISA

• Demand side:
• Batteries, EVs and wind turbines need cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earths.
• Refining of these minerals on land is concentrated in China, so countries are looking for other supplies.

• The seabed is seen as a new source.

• US unilateral action (acting alone, outside the ISA system):

• On 24 April 2025, the US President signed Executive Order 14285. It told the Commerce Department to speed up seabed mining licences in areas beyond national jurisdiction [3].
• These licences fall under the US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), which NOAA runs [3].
• The USA has not ratified UNCLOS.
• On 21 January 2026, NOAA issued a final rule. It lets a company apply for an exploration licence and a commercial recovery permit together in one application [4].
• NOAA found that The Metals Company USA had filed a complete consolidated application [5].
• Critics say this weakens the ISA's "common heritage" system.

Where it occurs

• World – by relief feature:
• Abyssal plains for nodules.
• Seamount slopes for cobalt crusts.

• Mid-ocean ridges for sulphides.

• India's three ISA contracts (Indian Ocean): 1. Polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB). India was registered as the first "pioneer investor" in 1987. 2. Polymetallic sulphides on the Central Indian Ridge and South-West Indian Ridge. 3. Polymetallic sulphides on the Carlsberg Ridge in the north-west Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea). This 15-year contract was signed with the ISA on 15 September 2025 [1].

• With two PMS contracts, India holds the largest exploration area allocated for PMS in the international seabed [1].

• Deep Ocean Mission (DOM, 2021):

• It is run by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Its aims are to use ocean wealth sustainably and to build the Blue Economy (economic growth based on ocean resources) [2].
• Samudrayaan is India's first crewed deep-sea mission.
• Matsya-6000 is a self-propelled submersible, designed to carry 3 people to 6,000 m [2].

• Timeline:

  • Shallow-water trial to 500 m by early 2026 [2]
  • Deep-water tests by mid-2027 [2]
  • Scientific dives in 2027–28 [2]

• USA: NOAA licences and permits under DSHMRA for areas beyond national jurisdiction [3].

Don't confuse with

• Offshore oil and gas drilling: this takes oil and gas from the continental shelf, inside a country's own jurisdiction. Deep-sea mining takes solid metal ores from the deep ocean floor. In the Area, the ISA regulates it.
• Beach-sand (monazite) mining: India's rare earths come mostly from monazite in the coastal sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. This is mining on land at the coast, not on the deep seabed.
• Exploration contract vs mining code: India's ISA contracts allow only exploration, meaning surveying and sampling. Commercial extraction needs a mining code, which the ISA has not adopted yet.
• ISA vs DSHMRA licence: the ISA (under UNCLOS, Kingston) treats the Area as the common heritage of mankind. A DSHMRA licence is a US national permit issued by NOAA, outside UNCLOS, which the USA has not ratified [3].

Prelims Hooks

• Matching: nodules go with abyssal plains, cobalt crusts with seamounts, and sulphides with mid-ocean ridges (hydrothermal vents).
• ISA: set up in 1994 under UNCLOS Part XI, with headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica. The "Area" is the "common heritage of mankind".
• India's first ISA contract was for polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. India became the first "pioneer investor" in 1987.
• Carlsberg Ridge PMS contract: signed 15 September 2025 for 15 years. It is India's 2nd PMS contract and its 3rd ISA contract overall [1].
• Matsya-6000 (under Samudrayaan / Deep Ocean Mission, MoES) is designed to carry 3 people to 6,000 m [2].
• Trap: the USA has not ratified UNCLOS. It licenses seabed mining under its own DSHMRA through NOAA (EO 14285, 24 April 2025) [3].

Mains Points

• Critical minerals vs ecology (GS-III):
• The seabed holds cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earths, which can reduce dependence on China's refining.
• But nodules take millions of years to form, so mining could destroy deep-sea ecosystems that cannot recover.

• This drives the call for a moratorium and raises the wider question of sustainable mining in the "green" transition.

• Global commons and governance:

• Under UNCLOS Part XI, the Area is the common heritage of mankind, yet the ISA still has no mining code.

• The USA's unilateral path (EO 14285, NOAA's combined licence-and-permit rule of 21 January 2026, The Metals Company USA application) puts pressure on rules-based governance [3][4][5].

• India's strategy:

• India keeps strong rights within the ISA: three contracts, and the largest PMS exploration area [1].
• It is building deep-ocean capacity through the Deep Ocean Mission and Matsya-6000 [2].
• At the same time, it supports rules-based seabed governance as part of its Blue Economy and critical-mineral self-reliance goals.

Related concepts

• Chilean copper belt
• Lithium Triangle
• Pilbara
• Bayan Obo
• China's dominance in critical minerals
• Shale gas
• International Seabed Authority

Read more

• World mineral regions and the critical-minerals race