Deep Sea Rare Minerals (DSRM), the parent company of autonomous underwater vehicle operator Deep Sea Vision, has applied for subsea mineral exploration licences with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The move makes DSRM only the second company, after The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC), to publicly announce such an application since U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order in April promoting the deep-sea mining industry. And NOAA says it’s quickening its reviews.
Tony Romeo, CEO of DSRM and a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, said the company is ready to help strengthen national mineral supply chains.
“As an American-based company, we are ideally positioned to leverage our deep-water equipment, personnel, and operational expertise,” Romeo said in a release. “We look forward to working with NOAA and other federal agencies throughout this application process to become a dependable supplier of U.S.-sourced critical minerals.”
Spiking interest
The filing coincides with DSRM’s sponsorship of the 2025 Underwater Minerals Conference, running Nov. 9–14 in Honolulu.
NOAA, which regulates mineral exploration and recovery by qualified U.S. entities in international waters, recently pledged to speed up its review process. It said it would “provide the necessary resources for license and permit reviews to ensure that those reviews go forward without undue delays.”
DSRM’s application comes barely a day after a joint announcement by Japan and the US outlining plans to develop deep-sea mining near Japan’s Minamitorishima Island. The partnership aims to secure rare earth materials critical to advanced technologies and defence while reducing dependence on China, which controls nearly the entire global supply chain.
DSRM’s move also comes amid growing environmental scrutiny. A study published this week warned that waste from deep-sea mining could disrupt ecosystems in the ocean’s “twilight zone,” a vital midwater layer supporting much of the marine food web.
Be the first to comment on "Deep Sea Rare Minerals seeks US seabed licences"