The Metals Company Conducts Ground-Breaking Deepwater Sampling Campaign in Eastern Pacific on Path to Meet Global Demand for Critical Minerals
09 November 2021 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
- The Metals Company has successfully concluded Environmental
Expedition 5C, the latest campaign in its $75 million multi-year
deep-sea research program to establish a rigorous environmental
baseline and characterize the potential impacts of the Company’s
proposed nodule collection operations
- In collaboration with Maersk Supply Services and researchers
from the University of Hawaii, Texas A&M University and the
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), the
Company achieved a world first by successfully sampling pelagic
biota at depths of 4,000 meters, marking the first deep MOCNESS net
tow in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean
- Facing six-meter swells at times, the team endured significant
challenges to successfully complete 100% of the work program on
schedule and with an untarnished safety record
The Metals Company, (NASDAQ: TMC) (the “Company” or “TMC”), an
explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic
nodules, today announced the conclusion of its Environmental
Expedition 5C, which focused on the biological communities, organic
flux and food web structure from the ocean surface to the benthic
boundary layer just above the abyssal seafloor. Researchers on
board achieved a world-first by conducting the deepest pelagic
biota sampling at depths down to 4,000 meters in the Eastern
Tropical Pacific. The Company’s fourth environmental research
campaign this year, Expedition 5C forms part of its $75 million
multi-year deep-sea research program to establish a rigorous
environmental baseline and characterize the potential impacts of
TMC’s proposed nodule collection operations. These latest insights
build upon the baseline dataset collected on the Company’s NORI-D
block, sponsored by the Republic of Nauru.
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Researchers from the University of Hawaii employed a range of
technologies including a 10m2 MOCNESS system (Multiple
Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing), comprising a series
of nets with varying mesh sizes that open and close at controlled
depths in the water column to capture a profile of biological
communities at each depth layer. In collaboration with Maersk
Supply Services, the team was able to trigger these nets to
retrieve biological samples at a depth of 4,000 meters providing a
glimpse into the deep-sea communities that may inhabit the dark,
high-pressure regions of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) where
the Company’s nodule collector system test will take place.
“We hear the call for further research into the impact of
collecting deep-sea nodules and since 2011 we have been doing just
that,” said Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company.
“I am immensely proud of the contribution we are making to
society’s knowledge of the deep-sea and that, since COVID first
impacted us all in early 2020, we have been able to complete nine
environmental research campaigns in collaboration with the world’s
leading ocean research institutions.”
Alongside the MOCNESS system, researchers leveraged hydrographic
rosettes to determine the physical properties of the water column,
generating insights into local salinity, temperature, oxygen,
turbidity, nutrient profiles and trace metal content, which will
help characterise the inter-relationships between the physical
environment from the surface to the abyssal depths, and the animals
that live there.
Facing rough seas with swells as high as six meters, both the
logistics and research teams overcame significant challenges to
complete the scope of the work program on time and without any
accidents or incidents. Mobilization of Environmental Expedition
5E, the company’s fifth and final research campaign of 2021, has
now commenced and is expected to be completed before the new year.
Expedition 5E will mark the completion of the offshore campaigns
that will form the basis of the Company’s environmental baseline
work.
Planet’s Largest Known Source of Battery Metals
As countries invest in large-scale clean energy transition
programs and begin to phase out internal combustion engines,
hundreds of millions of tons of critical battery metals including
nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese will be needed to decarbonize
the world’s energy and transport systems. In the U.S., the Biden
Administration recently elevated nickel to ‘critical’ status —
singling it out as one of three battery metals deemed ‘most
critical’ to US interests.
TMC’s NORI-D nodule project – recently ranked as the #1 nickel
project in the world by Mining.com — is the first in the Company’s
project development pipeline. In January, The Metals Company
published an upward revision to the nodule resource converted from
inferred to indicated category within the NORI-D area held by its
subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc., (NORI), improving resource
confidence from inferred to indicated status. Resource tonnage was
increased by 7% over the reported area from 320Mt inferred to 341Mt
indicated. The estimated in situ resource on the seafloor in the
exploration contract areas held by TMC’s subsidiaries is sufficient
for 280 million electric vehicles – roughly the entire U.S.
passenger vehicle fleet. The development of this resource offers an
abundant, low-cost supply of critical raw materials for EV
batteries and wiring with an expected lower lifecycle ESG impact
than conventional land-based mining.
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 the success
of its research campaign Environmental Expedition 5C, the results
or outcomes of the campaigns and expeditions and the data generated
during Environmental Expedition 5C respectively. 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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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211108005628/en/
Media | media@metals.co Investors | investors@metals.co Dan
Gagnier | Gagnier Communications | tmc@gagnierfc.com
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