TMC stock drops 5% as NOAA’s seabed-mining deadlines come into focus

29 December 2025

NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 11:54 ET — Regular session

Shares of TMC the metals company fell about 5% in late-morning trade.
NOAA is taking public comments through Feb. 23 on two exploration license applications tied to the company’s U.S. unit.
Thin, year-end trading conditions have amplified swings across equities, CFRA’s Sam Stovall said.

Shares of Nasdaq-listed TMC the metals company fell about 5% on Monday, last down $0.34 at $6.48.

The move comes in a holiday-thinned final week of the year, with investors focused on the next steps in the company’s bid to secure U.S. approvals to explore the deep seabed for metals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the U.S. Commerce Department, is seeking public comment on two exploration license applications filed by The Metals Company USA, LLC, and has set a Feb. 23 deadline.

Those dates matter because TMC’s project remains an approvals-driven story: without the relevant U.S. authorizations, the company cannot move from plans to permitted offshore activity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

NOAA says an exploration license allows surveys, research and test mining of polymetallic nodules, while a separate commercial recovery permit would be required for full-scale recovery for marketing.

TMC traded between an intraday low of $6.42 and a high of $6.93 on Monday, with about 3.3 million shares changing hands.

The broader U.S. market was lower in late morning, and low liquidity can exaggerate stock moves into year-end. “It’s a very light trading week ahead; volume is low,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. Reuters

TMC is a deep-sea minerals exploration company focused on collecting and processing polymetallic nodules from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean, according to a Reuters company profile.

A Federal Register notice said NOAA has determined the two amended applications are compliant with information requirements under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, or DSHMRA, and opened separate public dockets for written comments.

NOAA scheduled virtual public hearings on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, running from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET each day, and said attendees must register by Jan. 21 at 5 p.m. ET.

The Metals Company’s investor relations site lists no upcoming events, leaving the NOAA hearings and the close of the comment period as the next clear dates traders can point to.

For now, investors are treating the stock as a high-volatility bet on a U.S. regulatory process, with sentiment likely to remain sensitive to headlines as the public record builds into 2026.

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Shan Ahmed Khan is a senior markets reporter at TS2.tech. His coverage ranges from stocks and technology to economic developments across global markets. He worked in investment research and market analysis before becoming a financial journalist and is a graduate of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

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