A farewell from the Editor: It’s science fiction, until it isn’t.

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer Four years ago, I took over the Deep-sea Mining Observer from my predecessor, Arlo Hemphill. Conceived by the Pew Charitable Trust in 2016, The DSM Observer was created to be an online trade journal for the emerging industry as the International Seabed Authority navigated through the creation of an […]

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A new species of the sea-anemone-like Relicanthus clings to a sponge stalk on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.Credit: D. J. Amon & C. R. Smith

Deep-sea mining’s rapid technological progress is met with increased calls for a precautionary pause at the closing meeting of the 27th session of the International Seabed Authority.

Andrew Thaler for DSM Observer The Council of the International Seabed Authority gathered for a rare third meeting in Kingston, Jamaica this November to continue hammering out details of the Deep-sea Mining Code ahead of the July 2023 deadline. As has become customary over the last year, negotiations began with condemnations of Russia’s ongoing invasion […]

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The Metals Company completes a world-first test of deep-sea mining system.

Andrew Thaler for the Deep-sea Mining Observer The Metals Company capped off 2022 by setting a historic milestone in the development of deep-sea mining technology. As the International Seabed Authority Council convened in Kingston, the crew of the AllSeas vessel MV Hidden Gem completed the first successful recovery of polymetallic nodules from the abyssal plain […]

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Mining the Ocean

The Price We’re Willing to Pay: trade-offs and balance in the deep-sea mining industry

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer “To build a green future,” said Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company in a May 2022 press release, “our generation will need to mine more metal than we have mined in our entire history. This will lead to more emissions, more social displacement, more habitat destruction and more […]

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Deep-sea Mining State of Technology, 2022

Andrew Thaler for the Deep-sea Mining Observer While the development of a deep-sea mining code may have slowed to a crawl over the last two years, the mining contractors have been hard at work pushing the limits of marine robotics. Deep-sea mining contractors cleared several key technical milestones in the race to commercialize the deep […]

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A pivotal moment in the history of deep-sea mining

Andrew Thaler for the Deep-sea Mining Observer The spring and summer of 2021 will likely stand as the pivotal moment in the history of deep-sea mining. Months of intense protest amidst significant at-sea progress on environmental impact studies and prototype testing were capped off earlier this week by the explosive announcement that the Republic of […]

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© Marten van Dijl / Greenpeace

Major Brands Say No to Deep-sea Mining, for the Moment

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer On Wednesday, March 30, several major technology and automotive companies joined the deep-sea mining moratorium movement. Google, BMW, Volvo, and Samsung SDI (a Samsung subsidiary responsible for manufacturing small lithium-ion batteries for smartphones and other applications) signed on to the World Wide Fund For Nature’s Global Deep-sea Mining Moratorium […]

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Furious Agreement

Opinion/Editorial by Kris Van Nijen, Global Sea Mineral Resources Harmony has broken out in the world of deep-seabed mining. At last, contractors, regulators, NGOs and end users are aligned on the way forward. After years of heated debate, a snowball effect has occurred, and all parties have agreed that more research is needed before commercial […]

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