Overview
- NOAA finalized a consolidated pathway that lets eligible applicants seek exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits at the same time, effective upon publication of the rule.
- TMC submitted the first filing under the updated framework and expanded its proposed commercial recovery area in the Clarion Clipperton Zone to about 65,000 square kilometers from roughly 25,000 square kilometers previously.
- The company estimates the expanded area contains approximately 619 million tons of wet polymetallic nodules, with about 200 million tons of additional exploration upside.
- TMC says its application is backed by multi‑year environmental baseline studies, offshore test mining, and peer‑reviewed research indicating biodiversity and sediment plume impacts are limited to directly mined areas.
- Investors responded to the regulatory update and filing, with TMC shares rising roughly 9% after hours and trading higher intraday on Thursday.