Quantum Marine Minerals AS was founded in 2021 by a core team with long and extensive oil industry and geoscience experience in Norway and internationally.
The company name was changed to Quantum Wetstone AS in July 2025 when Wetstone Global Inc came onboard as key Investor & Industrial Partner.
QWS aim to apply for mineral licenses in the Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone scheduled for 2025/2026.
On June 20th 2023 the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy issued a whitepaper to the Parliament (Meld.St.25) proposing to open for deep sea mining activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). On 9th January 2024, the Norwegian parliament approved opening of key areas for exploration and extraction of mineral resources on the NCS. The opening was formally implemented by a final government decision on 12th April 2024.
The area is 281.000 square kilometers in size and located in the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea between Jan Mayen and Svalbard. QWS was invited to nominate acreage for the first license round in May 2024. QWS is currently preparing for submitting license applications on the basis of all data-sets available to the company.
Strategic Partners
Quantum is building partnerships with industry players that fit in with our business model and can complement the company in key operational areas.
QWS has commenced a close cooperation with world leading EM company EMGS to develop customized exploration schemes for marine minerals and take technology and data processing to the next level together with OCEEMlab, University of Texas at Austin.
And a strategic collaboration with the leading major geophysical player Shearwater GeoServices as our partner on the seismic/geophysical acquisition and processing side and an advisor in geophysical questions.
Other partnering relationships have been formed with leading specialist deep sea exploration consultants Deep Focus (machine learning and AI experts) and with the world wide renowned environment and sustainability advisors DNV.
EM methods are widely used in the mining industry and are expected to play a leading role in the emerging marine mineral exploration industry. EMGS is currently developing a commercial CSEM system for marine minerals mapping.
EMGS has already acquired two EM surveys together with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) to improve the understanding of the magmatic process that lead to the formation of marine minerals at the spreading ridges.
Mineral Extraction – Based on Known Technology
Deep Sea Mining bridges proven technology from the deep water oil industry and the terrestrial mining industry. The mining method is capitalized on open pit mining equipment for sediment removal, rock cutting and transfer of fragmented cutting. Riser and pump technology from the ultra deep water oil industry brings the ore cuttings to a floating production support vessel for de-watering and intermediate storage before shuttle tanker offload ore to onshore facilities. QWS is in collaboration talks with several technology, equipment and service companies for deep sea mining.
Quantum 