The Metals Company Advances Deep-Sea Research Program to Unlock World’s Largest Known Source Of Battery Metals
28 Septiembre 2021 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
- Offshore expedition 5C is part of a multi-year, $75
million deep-sea research program to establish an environmental
baseline and analyse the impacts of The Metals Company’s proposed
operations to source critical battery metals from deep-sea
polymetallic nodules.
- The expedition follows The Metals Company’s September listing
on NASDAQ, and its earlier identification of more than 1.6 billion
tonnes (wet) of nodules across two of its contract areas,
containing battery metal resource sufficient for 280 million
electric vehicles (EVs) — equivalent to the entire US passenger car
fleet.
- The world’s largest untapped deposit of battery metals —
nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese — is contained in polymetallic
nodules that sit unattached on the Pacific seafloor in the Clarion
Clipperton Zone (CCZ), between Hawaii and Mexico.
The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) (the “Company” or “TMC”), an
explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic
nodules, today announced the mobilisation of its latest offshore
research campaign, Environmental Expedition 5C, which continues its
investigation of the pelagic zone in its NORI-D license area of the
Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean.
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the full release here:
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The Metals Company's exploration vessel,
the Maersk Launcher.
The Company’s fourth environmental campaign this year,
Expedition 5C is the latest work package in The Metals Company’s
multi-year deep-sea research program intended to establish a
rigorous environmental baseline and characterize the potential
impacts of its proposed nodule collection operations to source
critical battery metals from deep-sea polymetallic nodules.
Setting sail this week aboard the exploration vessel the Maersk
Launcher, researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa,
University of Maryland, Texas A&M and the Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology will conduct numerous studies
over the six-week expedition to further characterise the biological
species and food web structure from the ocean surface to the
benthic boundary layer, just above the abyssal seafloor at depths
of up to 4,500 meters. In addition, researchers will continue
examining the chemistry, trace metal and nutrient profiles found
throughout the water column.
At the researchers’ disposal will be an array of specialized
equipment including hydrographic rosettes to collect water samples,
a Saildrone autonomous vehicle and MOCNESS nets, which will be used
to sample micronekton and zooplankton communities throughout the
water column.
“The collection and analysis of this baseline data is a critical
component of the Environmental, Social and Impact Assessment (ESIA)
required to establish the state of the ecosystem as it exists prior
to the commencement of nodule collection and to assist in
predicting the potential effects on the surrounding environment,”
said Dr. Michael Clarke, TMC’s Environmental Program Manager. “The
team of researchers on this expedition are at the top of their
fields and the research they produce will contribute greatly to
advance society’s knowledge of the Clarion Clipperton Zone.”
The planet’s largest known source of battery metals
TMC’s NORI-D nodule project — recently ranked as the #1 nickel
project in the world by mining.com — is the first in the Company’s
project development pipeline. In January, The Metals Company
published an upward revision to the nodule resource reported within
the NORI-D area held by its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc.,
(NORI), improving resource confidence from inferred to indicated
status. Resource tonnage increased by 7% over the reported area
from 320Mt inferred to 341Mt indicated. The positive conversion
rates arising from infill sampling grid with quality box core
sample data are high compared to the typical outcomes from infill
sampling of terrestrial mineral deposits.
As countries invest in large-scale clean energy transition
programmes and begin to phase out internal combustion engines,
hundreds of millions of tonnes of critical battery metals will be
needed to decarbonise the world’s energy and transport systems,
according to the International Energy Agency – will be vital.
In its recent 100-day supply chain review, the Biden
Administration elevated nickel to ‘critical’ status – singling it
out as one of three battery metals deemed ‘most critical’ to US
interests, alongside cobalt and lithium – and flagged the
establishment of domestic nickel refining capacity as its number
one priority.
About The Metals Company
TMC the metals company Inc. (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
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.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release are not historical
facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe
harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied
by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,”
“predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” and
similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or
trends or that are not statements of historical matters. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release include,
without limitation, TMC’s expectations with respect to the success
of its research campaign Environmental Expedition 5C and the
results or outcomes of these campaigns and expeditions,
respectively. These forward-looking statements involve significant
risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements. Most of these factors are outside TMC’s control and are
difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences
include, but are not limited to: regulatory uncertainties and the
impact of government regulation and political instability on TMC’s
resource activities; changes to any of the laws, rules, regulations
or policies to which TMC is subject; the impact of extensive and
costly environmental requirements on TMC’s operations;
environmental liabilities; the impact of polymetallic nodule
collection on biodiversity in the CCZ and recovery rates of
impacted ecosystems; TMC’s ability to develop minerals in
sufficient grade or quantities to justify commercial operations;
the lack of development of seafloor polymetallic nodule deposit;
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 TMC may recover; risks
associated with collective, development and processing operations;
fluctuations in transportation costs; testing and manufacturing of
equipment; risks associated with TMC’s limited operating history;
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; risks associated with TMC’s
intellectual property; and other risks and uncertainties indicated
from time to time in the final prospectus and definitive proxy
statement, dated and filed with the SEC on August 12, 2021 relating
to the recently completed business combination, including those
under “Risk Factors” therein, and in TMC’s other future filings
with the SEC. TMC cautions that the foregoing list of factors is
not exclusive. TMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance
upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date made. TMC does not undertake or accept any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its
expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances
on which any such statement is based except as required by law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210928005705/en/
Chelsea Lauber TMC@antennagroup.com
Media | media@metals.co
Investors | investors@metals.co
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