Deep-sea mining companies face a blizzard of litigation if they forge ahead with "unlawful" plans backed by U.S. President Donald Trump to dig critical minerals from the ocean floor, the head of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) told AFP on Friday (May 22, 2026).

The UN-backed body is tasked with setting regulations for deep-sea mining in international waters, and is currently drafting the founding set of rules for the polarising industry.

Frustrated after years of waiting for this legal framework, a string of companies have declared they will sidestep the authority and instead start mining using untested U.S. laws.

ISA Secretary-General Leticia Carvalho said she would "firmly consider this to be unlawful activity".

"No entity alone, no country alone, no investor alone has the right to benefit or tap into resources in the areas outside of its jurisdiction," she told AFP.

"I can envisage a big amount of litigation coming if this happens.

"This unilateral action will trigger many, many legal systems. And I hope this regulatory cacophony is not going to happen."

Companies hope to earn billions by scraping the ocean floor for polymetallic nodules loaded with manganese, cobalt and nickel.

Surging demand for these critical minerals has been driven by the rise of electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and durable alloys used in everything from construction to medicine.

Critics fear deep-sea mining will smother marine life with waste and the noise of heavy machinery will disrupt oceanic migrations.

Dozens of nations, including the U.K., France and Germany, have called for mining to be either permanently banned or temporarily halted until these environmental fears can be addressed.

While exploration for deep-sea mining is far advanced, no company or nation has started production on a commercial scale.

They have been forced to wait as the ISA's 172 members hash out a detailed "mining code" covering everything from the safe operation of mining vessels to methods for measuring environmental damage.

'Lose the race'

Mr. Trump upended this painstaking process in 2025, directing officials to fast-track permits for deep-sea mining in international waters.

Mr. Trump's move was based on an obscure and untested U.S. law from 1980 which says that citizens can mine in the ocean as long as it lies outside America's maritime territory.

Canada-based frontrunner The Metals Company was one of the first firms to announce it would seek U.S. approval for deep-sea mining.

Ms. Carvalho, a Brazilian oceanographer who was elected to head the International Seabed Authority in 2024, said the prospect of a legal showdown was one of the most troubling issues on her mind.

"This is one of the most important things that takes my sleeping hours, if I can be very honest," she said.

"If they do it before the mining code and the legal framework is established, it's unlawful."

Ms. Carvalho spoke to AFP from Fiji, where she has been meeting with Pacific island leaders in a push to build consensus around the authority's mining code.

There are fears that, if the ISA cannot adopt a comprehensive set of deep-sea mining rules, other nations will merely pass their own less-stringent regulations.

Ms. Carvalho said she hoped to have at least a basic mining code in place by the end of this year, warning that the ISA "might lose the race" if members did not act with urgency.

"I hope that this year is a year of resolution and decision. And if not this year, next year."