The filing was submitted under NOAA’s new consolidated application and review process, an updated regulatory framework designed to streamline the path from exploration to commercial permitting. Eco Minerals is among the early companies to file under this process, which aligns with Executive Order 14285, “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources,” and reflects the Company’s readiness to advance its program under US regulatory oversight.
Tony Romeo, CEO of Eco Minerals, commented, “We’re proud to be among the early companies to submit a consolidated application under NOAA’s new process. Eco Minerals’ mission is to develop deep-sea critical mineral resources responsibly, building the technology, regulatory standing, and operational capability to supply the minerals the world needs. Having established filing priority with NOAA across a large polymetallic nodule application area, and subject to NOAA’s ongoing review, we believe we are well-positioned to advance through the NOAA review process. Polymetallic nodules offer a potential supplemental source of the nickel, cobalt, copper, and other metals that underpin US energy, defense, and advanced manufacturing.”
Application Details
Eco Minerals’ exploration areas are located in two prospective polymetallic nodule regions, where third-party literature has reported occurrences of nickel, cobalt, copper, and other metals relevant to electric vehicle batteries, defense systems, and advanced manufacturing across the US economy.
The Company’s NOAA exploration license application, originally filed in August 2025 and subsequently amended three times, was determined by NOAA to be in substantial compliance in December 2025 and in full compliance in March 2026, establishing and reconfirming the Company’s filing priority, and Eco Minerals has completed pre-FEED (pre-front-end engineering and design) and FEED (front-end engineering and design) evaluation work for its planned nodule collection system. Together, these milestones reflect a phased, disciplined approach that has culminated in this consolidated filing.
NOAA’s updated framework under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA) consolidates the exploration license and commercial recovery permit into a single application and review process. NOAA’s determinations regarding Eco Minerals’ exploration license application are procedural only and relate to completeness, filing priority, and processing status; they do not constitute approval of, or guarantee issuance of, an exploration license, commercial recovery permit, or other authorization, and NOAA’s review of the application remains pending.