Key points
- TMC’s Allseas-designed collector uses Coanda nozzles, a concept dating to the 1970s, that generate lift through curved flow to pick up nodules without digging or dredging the seabed.
- The system targets two impact zones: the benthic plume at the seafloor and the mid-water plume, which can rise to 2,000 meters; nozzle shape has been refined through prototype lab testing to cut sediment intake.
- A future upgrade under consideration would give each nozzle individual articulation so it can track changes in seafloor height and hold the optimal pickup distance, further reducing sediment disturbance.
- TMC’s 2022 test mining campaign in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone found up to 98% of entrained sediment returns directly to the seafloor, with more than 95% settling within 1-2 kilometers of the collector vehicle.
