U.S. Senators Push for UNCLOS Ratification as Members of Congress Call for ISA to Adopt Seafloor Mining Regulations
21 Noviembre 2023 - 6:30AM
TMC the metals company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) (“TMC” or the “Company”),
an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of
critical battery metals, today commends an initiative by U.S.
Senators for the country to ratify UNCLOS — which it signed in 1982
but has since failed to ratify — in part to assert a leadership
role in the global effort to govern the high seas and shore up
supply chains for the critical battery materials required for the
energy transition.
“The longer we sit out, the longer the rest of world will
continue to set the agenda of maritime domain, from seabed mining
to critical subsea infrastructure,” said Arctic Caucus Co-Chair
Senator Murkowski in a press release. “It is time for America to
not just join the world at the table, but to make sure we are
helping to set the rules going forward.”
At the close of part III of the ISA’s 28th session earlier this
month, twelve members of congress, led by Rep Wesley Hunt (R-TX),
wrote a letter to ISA Secretary-General, Michael Lodge, as well as
Council President Juan José González Mijares and Assembly President
Fanday Turay, in which they called upon the ISA to adopt rules,
regulations and procedures to govern deep-sea nodule collection
which, they note, offer “a safe and environmentally responsible
means for meeting societal needs for advanced materials and energy
storage technologies without the taint of forced labor, slavery, or
child labor abuses.”
TMC CEO & Chairman Gerard Barron said, “It’s encouraging to
hear policymakers calling for the world’s largest economy to play
an active role in shaping the rules for the responsible development
of marine resources in the high seas. The U.S. faces an acute
shortage of domestic supply and processing of critical lithium-ion
battery cathode materials like cobalt, nickel and manganese. We
recognize the longer-term opportunity that polymetallic nodules
represent for the U.S. and — whether the country ultimately
ratifies UNLCOS or not — we will continue to work with American
policymakers, companies and researchers to determine a role for
nodules in achieving the country's clean energy ambitions.”
In November, five Members of the US House of Representatives
from Texas urged the Department of Defense to support the use of
federal resources under the Defense Authorization Act towards a
bankable feasibility study for nodule processing along the Texas
Gulf Coast. In a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Industrial Base Policy, Laura D. Taylor-Kale, the members wrote:
“Securing the U.S. critical mineral supply chain is a national
security imperative. To counter China’s growing hold on the global
supply chain, it is essential that the United States secure its own
innovative supply of critical metals. The applicant seems to have
the ability to produce battery-grade materials at commercial
facilities in North America at pilot scale. The scope of the
submission focuses solely on U.S. processing and appears to offer
the Department of Defense the opportunity to re-shore critical
mineral supply lines.”
Over recent years, TMC has welcomed letters from Congressional
Leaders including the House Armed Services Committee as well as
former Military leaders urging the Biden Administration to assess
domestic processing of seafloor polymetallic nodules as a means to
secure key energy transition metals and “close national security
vulnerabilities.” In March last year, Mr. Barron wrote to the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, in which he noted,
“Support from the U.S. Government for the development of the
polymetallic nodules resource and TMC’s first project, NORI-D,
would unlock access to the resource without overcoming legislative
hurdles to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea.”
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.co
Forward Looking StatementsThis 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 U.S. Senate’s ratification of UNCLOS. 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 TMC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2022, filed by TMC with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 27, 2023, as updated and/or
supplemented by TMC’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended June 30, 2023, filed with the SEC on August 14, 2023, and in
TMC’s other future filings with the SEC, including TMC’s Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, filed
with the SEC on November 9, 2023. 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.
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