Major Deep Sea Mining Company Goes Bankrupt

A company which had dreams of becoming the world’s largest deep sea mining company has declared bankruptcy. Norwegian company, Loke Marine Minerals, aimed to hold licences in the Pacific and the Arctic. Now, their deep sea mining dreams have been shattered. Loke also owns UK Seabed Resources, which holds the UK’s two deep sea mining licences in the Pacific.

Last November, Loke Marine Minerals, pleaded for new investors, but recognised that they were struggling.[2] The reason: their potential investors "were not immune" to the strong resistance against deep sea mining. The news comes as protestors disrupted a deep sea mining conference in the Norwegian city of Bergen.[3]

This is the latest blow for the struggling industry, with another deep sea mining company, Impossible Metals, also having to postpone plans for mining tests due to funding issues.[4]

These blows follow last week’s meeting of the United Nations regulatory body, the International Seabed Authority, - which concluded with widespread international condemnation of Canadian mining firm The Metals Company after TMC moved to bypass the UN process and seek unilateral approval from the United States to start mining in the Pacific.

Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, a campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, said:

"On the same day that we shut down a deep sea mining conference in Bergen, deep sea gamblers Loke Marine Minerals announced their bankruptcy. Deep sea gambling does not pay off. This dangerous deep sea mining company declaring bankruptcy is yet another symbol of a desperate industry in crisis, and it is a win for all those who have campaigned so hard to stop deep sea mining in the Arctic and the Pacific. Now we must secure a global moratorium to stop this desperate industry."

Erica Finnie, a campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said:

"Loke’s bankruptcy just goes to show how incompetent this nascent industry is and it’s putting our oceans in grave danger. Reasons to back a moratorium to stop rogue companies destroying the seabed are mounting by the day."

Juressa Lee, the deep sea mining campaigner for Greenpeace Aotearoa said: "We’re seeing mass resistance from ocean defenders, Indigenous Peoples and coastal and Pacific communities to deep sea mining. Investors are steering clear, and world leaders must also take heed. They must not kowtow to predatory industries with goals of riches for the few, and impacts on the environment and communities for many generations. The lack of research and understanding, the financial uncertainties and the long history of harmful extractivism all over the world is why we must call for a moratorium."

Greenpeace urges governments to stand up to deep sea mining, and attempts by The Metals Company to bypass the United Nations process, by supporting a deep sea mining moratorium at the next ISA meeting in July.

Notes:

1. Mineral dream in tatters: Bankruptcy for the company that was supposed to be the largest in the world | DN (in Norwegian)

2. Stavanger company needs more money to become the biggest in seabed minerals (in Norwegian)

3. Photos and videos from today in Bergen are available in the Greenpeace Media Library

4. Early 2026 Test with BGR Postponed - Impossible Metals

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