# NOAA Determines TMC USA’s Consolidated Deep-Seabed Mining Application is in Substantial Compliance

Canonical Atlas analysis: https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/noaa-determines-tmc-usa-s-consolidated-deep-seabed-mining-application-is-in-subs--3d00da9c-7ce5-45c0-a139-71330fcbdd66

Original source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/noaa-determines-tmc-usa-consolidated-123400774.html

Publisher: yahoo\_press

Original announcement: 2026-03-09T12:34:00.000Z

Analysis by Minestarters Atlas

Atlas analysis published: Unknown date

Atlas analysis updated: Unknown date

- Company: The Metals Company

- Ticker: TMC

- Exchange: NYSE

- Region: Clarion Clipperton Zone

- Primary commodity: Polymetallic nodules

- Secondary commodities: None reported

- Document categories: Permitting, Resource update

- Extracted: 2026-09-21 04:21:01 UTC

Narrative sentiment: 0.80 · Bullish

## Minestarters Atlas summary

NOAA has determined that TMC USA's consolidated deep-seabed mining application is in substantial compliance, marking a major regulatory milestone. The consolidated application expands the commercial recovery area to approximately 65,000 km2 and covers an estimated resource of 619 million tonnes of wet nodules.

Reasoning: The determination of substantial compliance by NOAA is a major regulatory de-risking event for TMC's deep-seabed mining application, coupled with a significant expansion of the commercial area and resource scale.

- Positive factor: Regulatory milestone achieved \(substantial compliance\)

- Positive factor: Significant increase in commercial recovery area

- Positive factor: Large resource scale \(619 Mt\)

- Positive factor: Substantial exploration upside \(200 Mt\)

Facts used in scoring: 2

## Classification and evidence

**permitting**

Polarity: positive

Story-specific tag

Definition: No canonical definition is currently available.

Why it applies: NOAA determined the application is in substantial compliance, a key regulatory milestone.

Evidence · text

> Determination of substantial compliance marks a key step in the U.S. regulatory process

**Tonnage Growth**

Polarity: positive

Definition: Tonnage increase reaching the strong tier vs prior estimate, with grade maintained or improved.

Why it applies: The commercial recovery area and estimated resource scale have increased significantly.

Evidence · text

> increases the commercial recovery area from ~25,000 to ~65,000 km2

## Extracted facts

Stored fact records: 1. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.

## Resource Estimates (1)

### Fact 1

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/noaa-determines-tmc-usa-s-consolidated-deep-seabed-mining-application-is-in-subs--3d00da9c-7ce5-45c0-a139-71330fcbdd66#fact-resource-facts-1)

Clarion Clipperton Zone · polymetallic nodules

#### Identity

- Project: Clarion Clipperton Zone
- Commodity: polymetallic nodules
- Region: clarion clipperton zone
- Reported Region: Clarion Clipperton Zone
- Ticker: TMC

#### Resource scope

- Resource group id: resource:5b5e03638dcf6087a261

#### Resource Data

- Tonnes: 619000000

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-03-09T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Large scale resource estimate provided for expanded area.

- Positive factor: Large resource scale

- Positive factor: Significant area expansion

Evidence · text

> estimated resource of 619 million tonnes \(Mt\) of wet nodules

#### Tags used in scoring

**Cut-off Undisclosed**

Polarity: negative

Definition: High-grade interval reported without stating the cut-off grade used for compositing.

Why it applies: no cutoff\_grade was stated

**No Contained Metal**

Polarity: negative

Definition: Tonnage and grade reported but contained metal not calculated or disclosed — incomplete reporting.

Why it applies: contained\_metal was not reported

**No QP/CP Disclosure**

Polarity: negative

Definition: No Qualified Person or Competent Person named — lower credibility for the estimate. A QP/CP should be a member of a recognized professional association with relevant experience.

Why it applies: no Qualified or Competent Person is named anywhere in the release

## How Atlas produces this analysis

Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.