The Metals Company Processing Pilot Campaign Converts Seafloor Nodules into Alloy Containing Critical Battery Metals
24 September 2021 - 10:30PM
Business Wire
- The work brings The Metals Company one step closer to realizing
its ambition of pursuing full-scale metallurgical processing plant
to produce critical battery metals
The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC), an explorer of lower-impact
battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, today announced
that it derived an alloy comprised of high-grade battery metals
from its pilot smelting campaign, conducted in partnership with
Expert Process Solutions (XPS) with support from Hatch and Optimize
Group. The smelting work builds on last year’s calcining campaign
at FLSmidth’s facilities, which demonstrated that conventional,
well-proven rotary kiln technology can be utilised for this
process
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The Metals Company Processing Pilot
Campaign Converts Seafloor Nodules into Alloy Containing Critical
Battery Metals (Photo: Business Wire)
Led by The Metals Company’s Head of Onshore Development, Dr.
Jeffrey Donald, the pilot project team utilized a custom process
derived from conventional nickel flowsheets to segregate the base
metals contained in the nodules into two concentrated streams: an
alloy comprised of critical metals essential for EV batteries and
wiring including nickel, cobalt, and copper; and a manganese
silicate which can be sold direct to market and further processed
to manganese alloy — a critical input to steel production.
“From a metallurgical perspective, nodules are a great feedstock
to work with,” said Dr. Donald. “They have high grades of valuable
metals, few impurities, low variability, and come in shapes and
sizes that make them very easy to handle, significantly reducing
the cost and complexity of the processing.”
This latest stage in The Metals Company’s pilot processing
program brings the company one step closer to realizing its
ambition of building a full-scale metallurgical processing plant
and advances the company’s mission of eliminating the solid waste
streams and harmful tailings and residues associated with
conventional land-based metal mining and production.
“These encouraging results show that nodules could provide an
attractive alternative to land-based ores for securing high-volumes
of the critical metals needed to achieve energy independence,” said
Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company. “With the
potential to ship them anywhere in the world for processing,
nodules could help solve national supply needs for important metals
like nickel and manganese.”
The Metals Company’s metallurgical strategy is to use a
flowsheet which utilizes conventional equipment in a process that
intends to generate near-zero solid waste. Compared to land-based
ores, polymetallic nodules have relatively lower levels of harmful
elements, and the company’s planned dual pyro / hydro-metallurgical
process is expected to allow for residues to be recycled to the
smelter and for the selection of reagents that produce products
instead of waste.
About The Metals Company TMC the metals company Inc. (The
Metals Company) is an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from
seafloor polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission: (1) supply metals
for the clean energy transition with the least possible negative
environmental and social impact and (2) accelerate the transition
to a circular metal economy. The company through its subsidiaries
holds exploration rights to three polymetallic nodule contract
areas in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean regulated
by the International Seabed Authority and sponsored by the
governments of Nauru, Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga. More
information is available at www.metals.co.
Forward Looking Statements Certain statements made in
this press release are not historical facts but are forward-looking
statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,”
“may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,”
“expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,”
“seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” and similar expressions that
predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not
statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release include, without limitation, TMC’s
expectations with respect to building a full-scale metallurgical
processing plant and eliminating the solid waste streams and
harmful tailings and residues associated with conventional metal
mining and production, the ability of nodules to help solve
national supply needs for nickel and manganese, and the success of
TMC’s planned dual pyro / hydro-metallurgical process. These
forward-looking statements involve significant risks and
uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ
materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Most of these factors are outside TMC’s control and are difficult
to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but
are not limited to: regulatory uncertainties and the impact of
government regulation and political instability on TMC’s resource
activities; changes to any of the laws, rules, regulations or
policies to which TMC is subject; the impact of extensive and
costly environmental requirements on TMC’s operations;
environmental liabilities; the impact of polymetallic nodule
collection on biodiversity in the CCZ and recovery rates of
impacted ecosystems; TMC’s ability to develop minerals in
sufficient grade or quantities to justify commercial operations;
the lack of development of seafloor polymetallic nodule deposit;
uncertainty in the estimates for mineral resource calculations from
certain contract areas and for the grade and quality of
polymetallic nodule deposits; risks associated with natural
hazards; uncertainty with respect to the specialized treatment and
processing of polymetallic nodules that TMC may recover; risks
associated with collective, development and processing operations;
fluctuations in transportation costs; testing and manufacturing of
equipment; risks associated with TMC’s limited operating history;
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; risks associated with TMC’s
intellectual property; and other risks and uncertainties indicated
from time to time in the final prospectus and definitive proxy
statement, dated and filed with the SEC on August 12, 2021 relating
to the recently completed business combination, including those
under “Risk Factors” therein, and in TMC’s other future filings
with the SEC. TMC cautions that the foregoing list of factors is
not exclusive. TMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance
upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date made. TMC does not undertake or accept any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its
expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances
on which any such statement is based except as required by law.
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Media
Rory Usher | The Metals Company | rory@metals.co
Chelsea Lauber | Antenna Group | tmc@antennagroup.com
Investors | investors@metals.co
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