Deep-sea mining firm Glomar Minerals and Australia’s Cobalt Blue Holdings said on Monday they plan to build a US refinery to process critical minerals extracted from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean within three years.
The move comes amid growing interest in mining the world’s seabeds for supplies of nickel, manganese, copper and other critical minerals used to build electronics, weapons and a range of consumer goods, even as the practice has drawn criticism from environmentalists.
Demand for those minerals is expected to jump in coming years, fueling a push for new and alternative supplies by Washington, Tokyo and other governments seeking to counter Beijing’s dominance in the minerals industry.
Glomar and Cobalt Blue plan to choose a US site by June for the refinery and be in commercial production before President Donald Trump’s term ends in 2029.
That timeline would require the partners to obtain financing for the facility, which is expected to cost less than $500 million and initially process 200,000 metric tons per year, with expansion potential.
Shares of North Sydney, Australia-based Cobalt Blue rose nearly 7% in Monday morning trading on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The companies declined to discuss commercial terms of their partnership and whether they are in funding talks with the US government. No customers have signed supply contracts yet.
“Undersea minerals represent a game-changer to redefine US critical mineral dependence the way shale oil and gas reshaped global energy geopolitics,” Robbie Diamond, Glomar’s executive chairman, told Reuters.
Rival The Metals Company said last week it is in discussions to lease Texas land for its own refinery, which is slated to produce 12 million metric tons per year. Company officials, though, said that project would be dependent on funding from the Trump administration.
Technology boost to industry
Cobalt Blue, which is developing a cobalt mine and refinery in Australia, will supply its technology to separate at least five minerals from so-called polymetallic nodules.
While mining seabed nodules faces engineering and technical challenges on its own, the processing of those nodules is also challenging and no commercial nodule refineries are in operation. Both companies are essentially betting Cobalt Blue’s technology can help jump-start a new industry.
“Polymetallic nodules offer the prospect of supplying multiple critical minerals from a single resource stream,” said Andrew Tong, Cobalt Blue’s CEO.
Founded in 2025, Glomar controls exploration leases in the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone previously held in part by aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. Glomar is “looking to expand its resource base,” Diamond said, although he declined to provide details.
International tension
The refining plans come amid increasing geopolitical tensions around deep-sea mining. Trump in January said he would accelerate permitting for companies aiming to mine in international waters.
The International Seabed Authority — created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the US has not ratified — has for years been considering mining standards, but again failed to formalize them when it met earlier this month.
Trump’s January move aims to bypass the ISA. The Metals Company has asked Trump to issue its own international permit. Glomar declined to say whether it has asked the same of the Trump administration, although it has yet to formally apply for such a move.
(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Deepa Babington)
