# The Metals Company

TMC the metals company Inc., doing business as The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen Metals, is a Canadian deep sea mining exploration company. The company focuses on the mining of polymetallic (nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese) nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific.
In 2021, DeepGreen Metals was acquired by Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) in a $2.9 billion special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal. TMC is now listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Baird Maritime noted that The Metals Company had no revenue or production as of April 2021, and highlighted the company's risky commercialization efforts: "Nobody has successfully managed to commercially harvest the nickel, copper, manganese, and cobalt from the nodules in 4,500 metres of water since interest was first stimulated in seabed mining in the 1970s."

## Criticism

Industry observers questioned the company's "green" positioning. The Wall Street Journal noted that CEO Gerard Barron previously backed another deep sea mining company, Nautilus Minerals, that "lost a half-billion dollars of investor money, got crosswise with a South Pacific government, destroyed sensitive seabed habitat and ultimately went broke".
Many scientists expressed concerns over the risks of deep-sea mining. In response to DeepGreen's efforts in Nauru, over 400 scientists signed a statement in opposition, alleging that it would result in the “loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales.” In 2021, DeepGreen published an open letter defending its practices after four BMW, Volvo, Google, and Samsung SDI supported a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium. In November 2023, The Metals Company published an open letter to advocates of ocean conservation, calling for open dialogue on deep-sea mining, emphasizing environmental responsibility, transparency, and collaboration to balance sustainability with resource needs for the energy transition.
The Metals Company says the harvesting in the ocean is less damaging than the land-based mining activities. Opponents to deep sea mining counter that the damage to the fragile ecosystem at the bottom of the ocean is irreversible and such mining is no guarantee that land-based mining will be slowed. Opponents say the ocean floor contains sea life that does not exist elsewhere and should not be disturbed. The speed of life and development on the ocean floor is very slow, disturbances, even minor, may have long-lasting effects.
Right now, however, there are no established regulations or environmental standards in place. The Metals Company says it’s leaving ample time for those rules to be finalized, but opponents say the company is bolting ahead of the collective efforts to come to a consensus about regulating the deep seas.
New research also sheds new light on the effect of the polymetallic nodules on the sea floor. They have an effect on the amount of oxygen in that part of the marine environment, and removing the nodules has effects that are completely unknown.
In 2024, the company was subject to scrutiny on an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Oliver’s episode has since been criticised by some researchers and ocean scientists, who warned that his segment repeated exaggerated misconceptions commonly circulated by opponents of deep-sea mining, especially regarding carbon storage and sediment disturbance. Studies have shown the ocean's surface, not the seafloor, plays a much larger role in carbon absorption, while the potential disturbance of sediment during nodule collection is likely minimal according to most estimates.