Company: TMCWW
Filing Date: 2025-03-27
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001410578-25-000516
Chunk: 16

Company: TMC the metals Co Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-27
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 16
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 19 polymetallic nodule exploration contracts covering approximately 1.28 million square kilometers, or 0.4% of the global seafloor, 17 of which are in the CCZ. We hold exclusive exploration and commercial rights to two of the 17 polymetallic nodule contract areas in the CCZ through our subsidiaries Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (“NORI”) and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (“TOML”), sponsored by the Republic of Nauru (“Nauru”) and the Kingdom of Tonga (“Tonga”), respectively. We are also in the initial stages of considering the possibility of a U.S.-based regulatory pathway with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) and the U.S. Department of Commerce under the U.S. Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (“DSHMRA”) for the commercial production of deep-sea polymetallic nodules in the CCZ.

We are still in the exploration phase and have not yet obtained any exploitation contracts from the ISA to commence commercial-scale polymetallic nodule collection in the CCZ. Additionally, we do not have the applicable environmental and/or other permits required to build and operate commercial-scale polymetallic nodule processing and refining plants on land.

Polymetallic Nodules

Deep-sea polymetallic nodules form on and just below the sediment-covered seafloor of the abyssal plains. These nodules contain significant amounts of metals, and their unique characteristic compared to terrestrial deposits is the presence of the four critical metals, nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese, in one deposit.

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