Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is back in the deep-sea mining game, holding talks with several mining companies about partnerships to access its long-held seabed licences in the Pacific Ocean.

The US defence giant holds two licences in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich area of international waters in the eastern Pacific. These were granted by US regulators in the early 1980s during the first wave of interest in ocean mining but remained unused for decades.

Lockheed appeared to exit the sector in 2023, when it sold its UK-based deep-sea mining subsidiary, UK Seabed Resources, to Norway’s Loke Marine Minerals. That firm filed for bankruptcy in April, prompting an asset auction that returned the two licences to Lockheed’s control.

Renewed opportunity

Chief operating officer Frank St John told the Financial Times there was “large interest” from undersea mining groups in accessing the licences. He said Lockheed is evaluating options to secure supplies of critical raw materials and is working closely with the Pentagon to identify resources that could support stockpiling or alternative sourcing strategies.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April asserting US rights to issue mining licences in international waters and proposing that seabed metals be treated as strategic assets. Lockheed says the US has a chance to set a global standard for commercial recovery of seabed nodules “in an environmentally responsible manner”.

Polymetallic nodules — rock-like formations packed with nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and other minerals critical for electric vehicles and electronics — are believed to be abundant in the Pacific ocean. US government estimates suggest over one billion metric tonnes of these nodules lie within American-licensed zones, with the potential to add $300 billion to GDP and create 100,000 jobs over a decade.

Interest from mining firms has surged. Companies based or listed in North America, including Canada’s The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC), have recently applied for seabed mining licences.

Hurdles remain

Seabed mining ambitions still face turbulent waters. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), created by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea — a treaty the US has never ratified — continues to develop environmental and regulatory frameworks for deep-sea mining. 

Representatives from 169 countries and the EU have been negotiating standards on royalties, taxation, and environmental impact, including acceptable levels of underwater noise and sediment.

The ISA is holding crucial talks in Jamaica this month to decide under what conditions mining operations may begin. In parallel, the US continues to operate its own licensing regime through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.