TMC Subsidiary NORI Commences Monitoring of the Environmental Impacts of Pilot Nodule Collection System Trials in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone

• Following 16 offshore campaigns by NORI to define the nodule resource and establish an environmental baseline in exploration area NORI-D in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), NORI’s environmental program enters a new phase— monitoring the environmental impacts of an integrated collector system test consisting of a pilot collector on the seafloor, the production vessel Hidden Gem on the surface, a riser system connecting collector to the vessel and key components of the Company’s Adaptive Management System.
• The impact monitoring phase is conducted from a separate vessel by a multidisciplinary team consisting of independent scientists from leading international research institutions and world-leading contractors.
• Conducted in a small test area in NORI-D, the collection system trials and environmental impact monitoring are part of the International Seabed Authority’s regulatory and permitting process and will provide critical environmental impact data to inform NORI’s application to the ISA for an exploitation contract.
• Almost 150 years after the HMS Challenger expedition first discovered polymetallic nodules on the seafloor in the Pacific, NORI’s integrated system trials mark the first such trials to be conducted in the CCZ since the 1970s.

NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC) (the “Company” or “TMC”), an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, today announced that a multidisciplinary team of independent scientists from leading research institutions around the world and industry-leading contractors has commenced the next phase of an extensive environmental baseline and impact monitoring campaign in preparation for the Company’s subsidiary NORI’s ongoing pilot nodule collection system trials in the NORI-D area of the CCZ.

Aboard a dedicated 103-meter-long monitoring vessel, scientists recently conducted pre-disturbance monitoring studies on a sub-section of the NORI-D exploration area to establish an environmental baseline before NORI’s offshore strategic partner, Allseas, tests a system consisting of a prototype nodule collector at the seafloor connected to a riser system to bring nodules to the surface production vessel, Hidden Gem.

Researchers use a range of high-tech equipment including bespoke tools developed by MIT, Scripps and Sequoia Scientific to characterise the behaviour of sediment plumes generated by the prototype collector on the seafloor; three dedicated moorings, current meters with acoustic modems to provide real-time seafloor current data and a large array of other specialized equipment which together represents the most extensive suite of instruments ever deployed for a single program in the deep ocean. The current campaign requires the coordination of 250 people across three vessels and also marks the initial trials of components of TMC’s Adaptive Management System — being developed in partnership with Kongsberg Digital — which is expected to enable near-real-time 3D visualization in the deep sea and the simulation and analysis of the impacts of NORI’s proposed operations at depths of 4kms.

The Company’s Environmental Program Manager, Dr Michael Clarke, said: “Testing of a fully integrated nodule collection system is a landmark event in the progression of our nascent industry. The environmental data we collect from the test will be key to defining and quantifying the key environmental impacts of our nodule collection process, which up to this point have been subject to speculation and conjecture.”

Having established a baseline of the NORI-D collector test area, scientists will proceed to monitor the environmental impacts of deployment and testing of the fully integrated nodule collection system. They will also undertake post-collection surveys to compare the status of the environment before and after the test. The data collected, together with many terabytes of existing baseline data collected by NORI throughout 16 offshore campaigns, will form the basis of NORI’s application to the International Seabed Authority for an exploitation contract, which the Company expects to submit in the second half of 2023.

Last month NORI announced that it received the ISA’s recommendation to commence its pilot nodule collection system trials in the CCZ after its review of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan (EMMP). Trials of prototype nodule collectors have been successfully conducted by several ISA contractors including BGR and GSR in the recent years. NORI’s tests will mark the first time an integrated nodule collection system — including nodule riser — has been trialled in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since the 1970s, when oil, gas, mining and industrial majors including Shell, BP, Rio Tinto (Kennecott), US Steel, INCO (Vale) and Sumitomo successfully conducted pilot test work, collecting over 1,500 tons of nodules.

About The Metals Company

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 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.

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