Robert Heydon

Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer

With a background in law and business, Robert has been creating and pioneering seafloor mineral projects for nearly 20 years. 

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He created the following deep sea mineral companies and has played an instrumental role in re-igniting global commercial interest in seafloor polymetallic nodule exploration and development:

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1. Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI); 

2. Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML);

3. DeepGreen Resources Inc., which became TMC The Metals Company;

4. DeepGreen Resources LLC, now operating as The Metals Company USA, LLC; and

5. United Nickel Inc. 

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Robert successfully pioneered the model under which Developing States were able to finally participate meaningfully in mineral exploration in the international seabed area under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

As a result, NORI and TOML became the first private sector companies to be granted a licence by the International Seabed Authority to explore for minerals in the international seabed area.

Robert has also worked to promote the development of various legal frameworks regulating deep sea minerals, including playing a key role in having invoked for the first time the jurisdiction of the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany.