The race to mine the seabed: Opportunities and risks

13 March 2026

It has by now become almost trite to highlight the importance of critical minerals to the energy transition. The world's demand for critical minerals, including copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, is soaring (with prices tipped to do the same). Less well known are the significant quantities of those minerals found deep in the ocean, lying on the seabed in the form of polymetallic nodules – small, solid, potato-sized balls of mineral-rich rocks. Over recent years, an area of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), located between Mexico and Hawaii, has become the target of significant mineral exploration activities in this (until now) relatively unknown part of the earth.

Not surprisingly, the CCZ now lies at the heart of a geopolitical race to secure access to the metals needed to drive the energy transition forward. In this briefing we explore the significant opportunities – and risks – this race poses for investors.

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