March 27 (Reuters) - Canadian miner The Metals Company

said on Thursday it had formally initiated a process

under the U.S. Department of Commerce to apply for exploration

licenses and permits to extract minerals from the ocean floor.

The company plans to apply under the Deep Seabed Hard

Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA) instead of the

International Seabed Authority (ISA), stating the latter had not

yet adopted regulations around deep seabed exploitation.

It also added that it has requested a pre-application

consultation with National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA).

TMC's bid to become the first company to gain approval to

develop deep sea minerals has been controversial. Environmental

groups are calling for all activities to be banned, warning that

industrial operations on the ocean floor could cause

irreversible biodiversity loss.

This move comes at a time when delegations from 36 countries

are attending a council meeting of the U.N.'s ISA in Kingston,

Jamaica this week to decide if mining companies should be

allowed to extract metals such as copper or cobalt from the

ocean floor.

Few expect a final text for the mining code to be completed

by the end of the latest round of talks on March 28, with

delegates also planning to discuss potential actions if a mining

application is submitted before the regulations are completed.

"We believe we have sufficient knowledge to get started and

prove we can manage environmental risks. What we need is a

regulator with a robust regulatory regime, and who is willing to

give our application a fair hearing," said Gerard Barron, CEO of

The Metals Company.