March 29, 2026 – Glomar Minerals, LLC (Glomar Minerals) and Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited (Cobalt Blue) today announced a consortium agreement to process seabed minerals in the United States (U.S.). The consortium will aim to build the first commercial-scale polymetallic processing facility in the world (called Project Infinity) with activities already underway to secure an appropriate U.S.-based site. The agreement leverages Cobalt Blue’s proprietary flowsheets, engineering work and pilot testing facilities in Australia, and Glomar’s extensive work to secure, explore, and develop seabed minerals—a near limitless resource.

Glomar Minerals is an American critical minerals company dedicated to exploring, collecting, and processing seabed polymetallic nodules to develop a new, secure and reliable, long-term supply of essential materials. Glomar Minerals draws its inspiration from the legendary Hughes Glomar Explorer, first commissioned by the CIA to recover the sunken soviet submarine K-129, later used by Lockheed Martin in the Clarion Clipperton Zone to demonstrate the industrial feasibility of seabed minerals.

Glomar Minerals, through its wholly-owned and affiliated subsidiaries, holds the rights to significant exploration licenses in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, including two leading polymetallic nodule projects and a minority stake in a third joint venture. Together, these projects rank among the world’s largest and most advanced holdings of high-grade polymetallic nodules rich in cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese — which are critical inputs for energy, defense, and advanced manufacturing supply chains.

“Undersea minerals represent a gamechanger to redefine U.S. critical mineral dependence the way shale oil and gas reshaped global energy geopolitics—but it is only one piece of the puzzle. Processing is the other—making this consortium instrumental to both economic and national security. The ability to extract six minerals from a single polymetallic nodule (cobalt, copper, nickel, manganese, iron, and rare earths) is a true force multiplier. Glomar Minerals is excited to lead in this effort and focus on processing with Cobalt Blue, so that the United States can win in this critical race for undersea mineral supremacy.”

Robbie Diamond, Executive Chairman of Glomar Minerals

Glomar Minerals is actively expanding both its global exploration footprint and its plans for vertical integration as part of its mission to strengthen supply chain resilience. With this new consortium, Glomar Minerals is on the fast track to become the world’s largest and most diversified holder of undersea minerals, while leading as the first to market with a fully-integrated harvesting to processing value chain.

“Our collaboration with Glomar Minerals provides a compelling opportunity to utilize Cobalt Blue’s patented hydrometallurgical technology for a new, significant multi-commodity feedstock.”

Dr. Andrew Tong, CEO & MD of Cobalt Blue

Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited (ASX: COB) is a listed Australian minerals processing and mining company with interests in cobalt, copper, silver and sulfur. Its critical minerals strategy focuses on building new midstream processing capabilities in Australia and with likeminded partners to develop new, secure supply chains. Cobalt Blue has already successfully demonstrated a robust metallurgical flow sheet for polymetallic nodules. Learn more at CobaltBlueHoldings.com.

Contact: post@glomar-m.com

Key Objectives and Mandates

• Expedited Permitting: Directs NOAA and BOEM to fast-track exploration and recovery licenses in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and international waters.
• Strategic Reserve: Supports the “Project Vault” initiative to reduce reliance on foreign, particularly Chinese, supply chains.
• International Leadership: Aims to establish U.S. standards for mining, positioning it as a leader against the International Seabed Authority.

Implementation and Industry Impact

• Agency Action: Mandates federal reports on commercial capacity and mapping within 60 days.
• Commercial Activity: The Metals Company (TMC) submitted the first commercial recovery application under DSHMRA in May 2025.
• Legislative Support: Congress introduced bills, such as H.R. 3803 and H.R. 4018, to codify the executive order.
• Funding: Utilizes the Defense Production Act and Export-Import Bank financing for domestic processing.

Abstract: The goal of their analysis was to evaluate the potential for seabed mining to diversify critical mineral supply chains, the opportunity and appetite for doing so, the factors influencing the viability of a seabed mining industry, and the broader implications of establishing a global seabed mining industry. They used several methods to accomplish these objectives, including a literature review, expert interviews, economic modeling, and an expert workshop. The authors found that the emergence of a seabed mining industry would introduce a new source of supply for critical minerals that are key elements for energy transition and defense technologies, and this would present several opportunities and challenges for the United States in terms of diversifying critical mineral supply chains away from China, cooperating with allies and partners, working with developing nations, and addressing environmental, regulatory, and security concerns. They offer several recommendations for the U.S. government to address these issues.

Key Findings

• Seabed mining presents an opportunity for the United States and its allies to diversify critical mineral supply chains, bolstering critical mineral supply reliability and security; however, the U.S. government has yet to develop a clear vision for a potential role of the United States and its allies in an emerging seabed mining industry.
• A global seabed mining industry could produce amounts of nickel and cobalt—key elements for lithium-ion batteries—that are equal to the projected U.S. demand in 2040.
• Seabed miners might face fewer barriers to entry into the mining industry than junior terrestrial miners.
• Production from seabed mining is expected to decrease metal prices, leading to decreases in terrestrial mining royalty revenue for developing nations that would likely exceed royalty-sharing and economic assistance programs from seabed mining.
• The establishment of a seabed mining industry would have geopolitical implications, including shifts among relationships within the Indo-Pacific region, concerns related to regulatory monitoring and enforcement, new territorial disputes, increasing demand for maritime domain awareness and security, and new influences on commodity prices and security of supply.

Recommendations

• The U.S. government should establish an interagency working group to develop a unified vision for what the United States’ role in a seabed mining industry would be and work with allies to ensure that all are working toward common goals. The group should then determine whether the vision is consistent with existing programs, policies, and partnerships or whether policy actions specifically targeting seabed mining are needed.
• The U.S. Department of the Treasury should clarify whether the cost of purchasing polymetallic nodules extracted from international waters is eligible for the tax credits outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act.
• The Bureau of Oceans and Energy Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Geological Survey should accelerate efforts to map seabed mineral resources in U.S. exclusive economic zones.
• The U.S. government should consider the impacts of seabed mining on developing countries and how to integrate developing countries into the industry while creating economic opportunities beyond seabed mining royalty transfers.
• The U.S. Department of State should prepare for the start of seabed mining operations with or without U.S. participation by initiating discussions with allies and partners on strategic priorities.
• The U.S. Department of State should lead efforts on behalf of the administration to impress on Congress the limitations of not ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• The U.S. government should enlist federally funded research and development centers, academia, and industry to study further the potential impacts of seabed mining operations in various areas.

Abstract

Deep-ocean polymetallic nodules form on or just below the vast, sediment-covered, abyssal plains of the global ocean. Polymetallic nodules primarily consist of precipitated iron oxyhydroxides and manganese oxides, onto which metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, titanium and rare earth elements sorb. The enormous tonnage of nodules on the seabed, and the immense quantities of critical metals that they contain, have made them a target for future mining operations. Mining of polymetallic nodules has been spurred by the need for critical metals to support growing populations, urbanization, high-technology applications and the development of a green-energy economy. Nevertheless, an improved understanding of the affected ecosystems and their connectivity, as well as the environmental impacts of deep-ocean mining, is required before operations begin. Opportunities exist, however, to ensure that this new industry applies adaptive management to continually refine operations with the goal of environmental protection and invests in the development of green technologies for extractive metallurgy and mining. In this Review, we explore the chemical processes that control the concentration of critical metals in deep-ocean polymetallic nodules, discuss the mining and metallurgical techniques required, and highlight the opportunities and potential risks that are presented by this new industry.

Key points

• Polymetallic nodules cover vast areas of the abyssal ocean floor and contain significant amounts of critical metals.
• The chemical and mineralogical compositions of polymetallic nodules are primarily controlled by their formation process.
• A unique characteristic of deep-ocean nodules compared to terrestrial deposits is the presence of multiple commodities in one deposit; for example, nodules from the Clarion–Clipperton Zone contain Mn, Ni, Cu and Co.
• Deep-ocean mining might avoid some of the environmental issues associated with terrestrial mining.
• The development of societies towards a more sustainable future cannot proceed without critical metals. Deep-ocean mining can not only deliver the metals necessary for this transition but can do so with a low carbon footprint.
• The precautionary approach, adaptive management and best environmental practices are essential to the development of a polymetallic nodule resource.