Key points
- TMC reaffirmed its development and capital plan through Q3 2023, targeting an ISA exploitation contract application
- NORI-D holds an estimated 356 million tonnes of wet nodules, ranked the largest undeveloped nickel project, just 22% of TMC’s resource
- The 228-meter Hidden Gem arrived in Rotterdam on September 21, 2021 for conversion, targeting 2022 pilot collection tests
- TMC completed pilot smelting in Canada with XPS, Hatch and Optimize Group and launched environmental Expedition 5C
Development and Capital Outlook
TMC today reaffirmed its development and capital plan through the third quarter of 2023, when it expects to submit its application to the
rd party economic analysis indicated, as of 1. The NORI-D area, ranked as the largest undeveloped nickel project in the world and representing just 22% of the Company’s estimated defined resource, is only the beginning. Across our full NORI and TOML contract areas, we have identified a sufficient estimated amount of nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese in situ to support the electrification of 280 million EVs, or approximately the entire US passenger vehicle fleet.”
As of
- Completion of a pilot plant program to process and refine polymetallic nodules into critical metals including nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese which are essential to the transition to clean energy and electric vehicles;
- Construction and deployment of the pilot collection system to lift nodules to the surface and transport them to shore where they can be processed with near-zero solid waste, no tailings or deforestation, and with careful attention to limit harm to the integrity of the deep-ocean ecosystem;
- Completion and submission of the Environmental Impact Assessment, a key part of one of the most comprehensive deep-sea research programsto date; and
- Submission of an application to the ISA for an exploitation contract for its NORI-D area of the CCZ, which is estimated to contain 356 million metric tonnes of wet nodules containing high-grade nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese mineral resources.2
Business Update
Following the completion of the business combination between
- The 228-meter-long former drill ship renamed the Hidden Gem arrived inonRotterdam September 21, 2021 , to begin its conversion into what is expected to be the first ship classified as a sub-sea mining vessel by theAmerican Bureau of Shipping . TMC and its partner Allseas expect the vessel to be operational for pilot nodule collection tests in 2022.
- TMC completed the pilot smelting phase of its pyrometallurgical campaign, deriving an alloy comprised of high-grade battery metals. The smelting work was conducted inCanada in partnership with Expert Process Solutions (XPS) with support fromHatch and Optimize Group .
- The Company launched its fourth environmental campaignthis year, Expedition 5C, advancing its multi-year deep-sea research program intended to establish a rigorous environmental baseline and characterize the potential impacts of its proposed nodule collection operations, with researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa,University of Maryland , Texas A&M and theJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology .
- The International Seabed Authority continues to work against a two-year deadline to finalize regulations regarding deep sea mining by- July 9, 2023 , pursuant to the- Republic of Nauru exercising its sovereign rights under Section 1, paragraph 15 of the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – ISA Council & Assembly meeting in- Kingston , Jamaica has been scheduled for- December 6 – 15, 2021.
About The Metals Company
