While not every jurisdiction has completed their final regulations for full scale commercial mining, deep sea mining has been regulated for decades. No commercial seabed mining has happened yet, precisely because of these regulations, which prohibit deep sea mining without a license.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) adopted the exploration regulations for polymetallic nodules on July 13, 2000. Since then, 31 exploration licenses have been awarded. A draft set of regulations governing commercial extraction has also been under discussion at the ISA since 2011, when Fiji requested the ISA to prepare a work plan for adopting the extraction mining code, with iterative revisions released (e.g., 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024). The ISA has undoubtedly been delayed by motivated opponents hoping to stop all deep sea mining, but the issues are well understood and the ISA could finish their commercial mining regulations within a year.
Other nations, including the Cook Islands, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and the U.S. , have already completed exploration and/or commercial mining regulations. These regulations allow for mining in domestic Exclusive Economic Zones, generally within 322km (200 miles) of their shoreline. In the case of the U.S., domestic law also permits U.S. companies to apply for mining licenses in international waters; two such licenses were issued several decades ago and remain active.
