Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMEX), a global subsea
mineral exploration and validation company, filed a Comprehensive
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which included
restated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022,
and interim periods. The company also reported first quarter
financials for the period ended March 31, 2024.
"The comprehensive audit and restatement of our financials
serves as a critical step towards further ensuring transparency,
accuracy, and accountability within our company. Although a
technical accounting matter led to the restatement of our financial
statements, we anticipate this to be a one-time event that will not
impede our future filings," stated Mark Gordon, Odyssey’s Chief
Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. "The
restatement has had no adverse effect on our business where we
remain focused on building a portfolio of projects that will have a
net positive impact by providing critical mineral resources in
demand by society."
As previously disclosed in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 26, 2024, the company’s
Audit Committee of the Board of Directors concluded that certain
previously issued consolidated financial statements could not be
relied upon and that certain financial statements would be
restated. The restatement addresses the correction of accounting
treatments for certain transactions, including the company’s
litigation financing, which has been reclassified as a derivative
liability under GAAP. The company's unaudited consolidated
financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, are
included in the Comprehensive Form 10-K, along with restated
audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended
December 31, 2022, and restated unaudited consolidated financial
statements for interim periods ended March 31, 2022, and 2023, June
30, 2022, and 2023, and September 30, 2022. With this filing,
Odyssey has now filed all previously delinquent SEC periodic
reports.
Odyssey recently announced that it received a payment of
approximately $9.4 million arising from its residual economic
interest in a shipwreck project. The company expects to use the
funds primarily to support the company's ongoing operations.
The company’s consolidated financial statements and
Comprehensive Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and
the company’s consolidated financial statements and Form 10-Q for
the period ended March 31, 2024, are available on the company's web
site at www.odysseymarine.com as well as at www.sec.gov.
Company Updates
Odyssey grows its portfolio by focusing on polymetallic nodule
projects, which could provide the metals necessary to transition to
renewable energy sources, thereby reducing carbon, emissions and by
developing phosphate deposits, a vital component of fertilizer
essential for addressing the food security requirements of a
growing global population. Leveraging its distinctive Global
Prospectivity Process, the company identifies projects that align
geologically and geopolitically, strategically advancing them along
its value curve model.
ExO Phosphate Project - NAFTA Case
Odyssey initiated a claim under Chapter XI of the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2019, alleging that Mexico
wrongfully denied its environmental approval of the ExO Phosphate
Project in breach of NAFTA. The company is seeking damages of over
$2 billion.
On March 8, 2024, Odyssey received a letter from the
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
relating to the claim of Odyssey and Exploraciones Oceánicas S. de
R.L. de C.V. (a subsidiary of Odyssey) against the United Mexican
States under Chapter Eleven of the North American Free Trade
Agreement. The letter advised the Claimant that the Tribunal “has
continued to make progress in finalizing its determinations” and
that it “expects to render the Award in the second quarter of this
year.”
Odyssey cannot predict the outcome of the arbitration, but the
company remains confident in the merits of its case.
Responsible Use of Seafloor Resources Act (RUSRA)
Odyssey and several industry peers endorsed the Responsible Use
of Seafloor Resources Act (RUSRA) in March 2024. This act
underscores the United States' commitment to supporting
international governance of seafloor resource exploration and
fostering responsible collection efforts.
Cook Islands Polymetallic Nodule Exploration
Milestones
The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) granted three
exploration licenses in 2022. Odyssey is invested in and provides
services to two license holders that have undertaken exploration
efforts and achieved several milestones while advancing
understanding of the resources in their respective areas.
Ocean Minerals LLC (OML), one of the companies in which Odyssey
has invested, completed multiple expeditions during the last year,
resulting in a comprehensive mapping survey of the entire license
area as well as collecting environmental, sediment, and resource
samples. These samples, supported by the extensive ROV-captured
video recordings, have been analyzed by independent laboratories
and scientists, with results being reported to the Cook Islands
Seabed Minerals Authority with an updated resource report being
imminent. Using a benthic sled, a five-tonne bulk nodule sample to
enable our ongoing metallurgical process development was recovered.
This work accrues to expanding the amount of measured and indicated
resources reported in their initial JORC resource report.
“We have been very pleased with the performance of our turnkey
research vessel, the Anuanua Moana, in the Cook Islands. Our
remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and suite of scientific and
exploration tools have provided us, the Cook Islands, and the world
with a never-before-seen comprehensive understanding of the
seafloor in the Cook Islands EEZ,” said Hans Smit, OML Chief
Executive Officer. “We are looking forward to updating our JORC
resource report in the coming months and continue to progress our
program in line with our published work plan, and we are doing this
while providing vessel services to the Cook Islands and other
license holders there.”
About Odyssey Marine Exploration
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMEX) is a deep-ocean
exploration pioneer engaged in the discovery, validation and
development of subsea mineral deposits in a socially and
environmentally responsible manner. Odyssey provides marine
services for private clients and governments interested in
exploring their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) to survey, map and
identify any potential mineral resources present. The company
focuses on the exploration of polymetallic nodules (battery metals
to power the future) and subsea phosphate deposits (fertilizer to
feed the future) which the company believes will provide a benefit
to society now and in the future, For additional details, please
visit www.odysseymarine.com. An investor presentation is available
in the Investors section of the website.
Forward Looking Information
Odyssey Marine Exploration believes the information set forth in
this Press Release may include "forward looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Act of 1934. Certain factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors" in Part
I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2021, which was filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on March 31, 2022. The financial and operating
projections as well as estimates of mining assets are based solely
on the assumptions developed by Odyssey that it believes are
reasonable based upon information available to Odyssey as of the
date of this release. All projections and estimates are subject to
material uncertainties and should not be viewed as a prediction or
an assurance of actual future performance. The validity and
accuracy of Odyssey's projections will depend upon unpredictable
future events, many of which are beyond Odyssey's control and,
accordingly, no assurance can be given that Odyssey's assumptions
will prove true or that its projected results will be achieved.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240515151676/en/
Liz Shows Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (813) 876-1776
lshows@odysseymarine.com
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