Researchers to Return to the Site of NORI’s Nodule Collection System Test to Assess Seafloor Ecosystem Function A Year After the Test
November 08 2023 - 7:00AM
The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC) (“TMC” or “the Company”), an
explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic
nodules, today provides additional details on the previously
announced offshore campaign to revisit the site of last year’s
nodule collection system test conducted by its subsidiary, Nauru
Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) with the objective to assess seafloor
impacts and recovery rates twelve months after the test. The
Company expects to commence the campaign in Q4 2023.
Researchers plan to return to the NORI-D area in the Clarion
Clipperton Zone to collect further environmental data for NORI’s
application for an exploitation contract, which it expects to
submit following the July 2024 meeting of the International Seabed
Authority, as well as to inform its Environmental Management and
Monitoring Plan.
Specialized research teams will use an array of boxcore and
multi-core samplers as well as various benthic lander systems to
assess impacts to biota and ecosystem function on the seafloor in
NORI-D. Engineers at the surface will control a Remotely Operated
Vehicle to support high-precision placement of the sampling
equipment in the area directly disturbed by the Allseas-designed
pilot collector vehicle, as well as in areas adjacent to, and at
various distances from, the site of last year’s integrated
collection system trials.
TMC Environmental Manager Dr Michael Clarke, who is leading
NORI’s ESIA, said: “As we bring together and process the wealth of
data that we have gathered over the past 11 years, we’re using the
additional time prior to our application submission to increase our
knowledge base further. Building on observations from last year’s
collector test monitoring campaign, the findings of this next
campaign will greatly enhance the quality of our application and
provide greater understanding for the regulator and stakeholders of
how the abyssal ecosystem responds to our operations. This data
will also be extremely valuable for our engineering teams as they
refine the collection system to have a lighter touch.”
While on site, the engineering and science teams will also
recover long-term oceanographic moorings and re-deploy two
reference moorings from the NORI-D area before commencing long-term
oceanographic monitoring on the TOML-F area held by TMC subsidiary
Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd (TOML), which is adjacent to NORI-D.
NORI’s upcoming environmental campaign will add to the
significant research that has been conducted in the deep sea. Since
the late 1960s, over 300 hundred offshore campaigns have been
conducted in international waters with over $2 billion invested in
environmental baseline and impact studies and technology
development, with most of the capital invested by private
companies. To address knowledge gaps, research and investment have
accelerated significantly since 2001 with governments and
contractors like NORI spending over 6,000 days – the equivalent of
almost 17 years – at sea, assessing the deep-sea environment.
About The Metals CompanyThe Metals Company is
an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor
polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission: (1) supply metals for
the global energy transition with the least possible negative
impacts on planet and people and (2) trace, recover and recycle the
metals we supply to help create a metals commons that can be
used in perpetuity. The Company through its subsidiaries holds
exploration and commercial 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.
ContactsMedia | media@metals.coInvestors |
investors@metals.coForward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements and
information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words
such as “aims,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,”
“expects,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,”
“possible,” “potential,” “seeks,” “will” and variations of these
words or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking
statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this
press release include, but are not limited to, TMC’s expectations
with respect to the success of its upcoming offshore campaign, the
results or outcomes of the campaign and the data generated during
the upcoming offshore campaign respectively. The Company may not
actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in
these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or
events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and
expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a
result of various factors, including, among other things: the
Company’s ability to satisfy the closing conditions in the
securities purchase agreement; the risk that the investors will not
exercise the warrants issued or issuable as part of the Registered
Offering; the Company’s ability to access additional funds under
the unsecured credit facility, the ATM or otherwise; the Company’s
strategies and future financial performance; the International
Seabed Authority’s (“ISA”) ability to timely adopt the Mining Code
and/or willingness to review and/or approve a plan of work for
exploitation under the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the
Sea (UNCLOS); the Company’s ability to obtain exploitation
contracts or approved plans of work for exploitation for its areas
in the Clarion Clipperton Zone; regulatory uncertainties and the
impact of government regulation and political instability on the
Company’s resource activities; changes to any of the laws, rules,
regulations or policies to which the Company is subject, including
the terms of the final Mining Code, if any, adopted by ISA and the
potential timing thereof; the impact of extensive and costly
environmental requirements on the Company’s operations;
environmental liabilities; the impact of polymetallic nodule
collection on biodiversity in the Clarion Clipperton Zone and
recovery rates of impacted ecosystems; the Company’s ability to
develop minerals in sufficient grade or quantities to justify
commercial operations; the lack of development of seafloor
polymetallic nodule deposit; the Company’s ability to successfully
enter into binding agreements with Allseas Group S.A. and other
parties in which it is in discussions, if any; 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 the Company may recover; risks associated with
collective, development and processing operations, including with
respect to the development of onshore processing capabilities and
capacity and Allseas Group S.A.’s expected development efforts with
respect to the Project Zero offshore system; the Company’s
dependence on Allseas Group S.A.; fluctuations in transportation
costs; fluctuations in metals prices; testing and manufacturing of
equipment; risks associated with the Company’s limited operating
history, limited cash resources and need for additional financing;
risks associated with the Company’s intellectual property; Low
Carbon Royalties’ limited operating history and other risks and
uncertainties, any of which could cause the Company’s actual
results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, that are described in greater detail in the section
entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
filed with the SEC on March 27, 2023, as updated in our Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 14, 2023, as well
as in other filings the Company may make with the SEC in the
future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press
release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly
disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained herein, whether because of any new information, future
events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as otherwise
required by law.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2f13bf44-1211-4174-891e-9553271ec596
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