The CEO of The Metals Company has downplayed the environmental risks of deep sea mining, describing the extraction of polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor as simply “picking up rocks” – a characterisation that has drawn immediate criticism from ocean campaigners and climate advocates.

Speaking at the New York Times Climate Forward event, Gerard Barron went further, dismissing calls for a moratorium on the industry – backed by scientists, corporations and environmental groups alike – as “virtue signalling” and “a vote against science.”

The Metals Company is currently seeking US authorisation to mine the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, a move widely regarded as inconsistent with international law. The company’s application remains under review by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and no commercial recovery permit has yet been issued. The International Seabed Authority, which administers mineral activities in the international seabed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, has not approved commercial mining, and 46 countries have now called for a ban, moratorium, or precautionary pause on the industry.

Barron’s comments arrive just as new evidence has emerged suggesting the seabed may be far slower to heal than his “picking up rocks” framing implies. A study published last year in Nature found that marine life at a deep-sea mining test site in the very same Clarion-Clipperton Zone is still showing little sign of recovery – four decades after the initial disturbance.

The research revisited an experiment carried out in 1979, in which a 100-ton machine was sent to the seabed to simulate commercial mining. Led by Professor Daniel Jones at the National Oceanography Centre and co-led by the Natural History Museum, the team found that the machine’s tracks remain clearly visible 44 years on, with ongoing impacts on wildlife in the area.

“To tackle the crucial question of recovery from deep-sea mining, we need first to look to the past and use old mining tests to help understand long-term impacts,” Professor Jones said.

“Forty-four years later, the mining tracks themselves look very similar to when they were first made, with an eight-metre-wide strip of seabed cleared of nodules and two large furrows in the seafloor where the machine passed. The numbers of many animals were reduced within the tracks but we did see some of the first signs of biological recovery.”

While it is true that technology in the area has progressed over those decades, the environmental impact of deep-sea mining – not just on the deep seabed but the water column itself – remains a major concern among many scientists. Jackie Dragon, Senior Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace USA, meanwhile rejected Barron’s framing directly and leant into the common heritage of the deep sea.

“The Metals Company has not shown that mining the ocean would replace mining on land, reduce pollution from mineral processing, or deliver the mineral independence it promises. The international seabed is our common heritage, and that’s exactly why no country should act alone in handing it over to one corporation. The deep ocean should not become a sacrifice zone for an industry that can’t prove its case,” she said.

Actor and activist Jane Fonda, executive producer of the Greenpeace USA documentary GASLIT, also addressed the issue after appearing as a main stage speaker at the event, calling for an end to efforts to launch deep sea mining.

“In the effort to save the planet and cool the planet, let’s not move to regrettable alternatives. Deep sea mining is a very regrettable alternative. And with conservation, innovation, and reusing, we don’t really need to go 2.5 miles down and destroy the bottom of the ocean when we don’t even know what’s happening down there. Biodiversity is one of the things that allow human beings to be alive. So let’s not minimise the importance of biodiversity.

“The ocean provides oxygen, food, and protein for two billion people. We can not allow it to become sicker than it already is. It’s already borrowed. We have to protect it. Deep sea mining does the opposite. We cannot allow that to happen.”

Outside the venue, Greenpeace activists held a banner in front of The New York Times building during the event, calling out Barron’s ties to the Trump administration and his bid to sell deep sea mining as a climate solution.

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