Claiming the Commons: The Legal Quagmire of The Metals Company

A new report by Greenpeace Canada sheds light on legal concerns regarding The Metals Company’s (TMC) pursuit of deep sea mining. The report, Claiming the Commons: The Legal Quagmire of The Metals Company, reveals that the Vancouver-based deep sea mining firm is circumventing, and thereby potentially violating, international law by using the United States permitting process to secure licenses and permits to engage in extractive activities in the deep seabed.

The report highlights Canada’s legal obligations as a signatory of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to ensure that its nationals, including corporations, do not engage in unilateral mining activities. With The Metals Company being incorporated and headquartered in British Columbia, this report urges the Canadian government to denounce TMC’s actions and to uphold their obligations under UNCLOS Articles 137 to 139. 

Claiming the Commons: The Legal Quagmire of The Metals CompanyDownload

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), established under UNCLOS, is charged with regulating the organization, conduct and control of mining activities in the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction (referred to as “the Area”), acting on behalf of humankind as a whole. Unilateral mining is unlawful both as a matter of treaty law and customary international law. This report echoes the ISA’s view that TMC’s attempts at bypassing established ISA processes and pursuing unilaterl mining permits and licences signals a disregard for the rule of law and undermines global ocean governance.


TMC holds exploration contracts granted by the ISA in 2025 through two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (“NORI”) and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (“TOML”). TMC’s subsidiary, The Metals Company USA, LLC (“TMC USA”), has applied for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits under the U.S. Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Act (DSHMRA). Any mining by The Metals Company through permits obtained under the U.S. DSHMRA would be in breach of international law.

The report is also intended to inform current and potential investors and business partners of The Metals Company about the legal concerns regarding their activities and the implications of a potential partnership or investment for their own operations, which may be in breach of international law.

Download the report Claiming the Commons: The Legal Quagmire of The Metals Company
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Sources

For those who received our physical flyers, please see below the cited sources of the flyer copy for this report.