Global Sea Mineral Resources

Mission & Goals

Climate change, population growth, urbanization and clean energy. These are some of the major challenges the world faces in the years ahead. Metals like cobalt and nickel, essential to address these needs, are becoming increasingly difficult to access, or even scarce, on land. But significant amounts of these metals can be found in polymetallic nodules, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. Building on its world-renowned expertise in marine technology, DEME has established an in-house, deep-sea exploration and exploitation specialist: Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR). In 2013, the International Seabed Authority and GSR signed a 15-year contract for prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules. Under the contract, GSR has exclusive rights for exploration for polymetallic nodules over 75,000 square kilometers of the seabed in the eastern part of the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Central Pacific Ocean.