TMC Applauds ~350 Former U.S. Political and Military Leaders Urging Senate to Ratify Law of the Sea for Deep-Sea Mine Sites "Each Containing a Trillion Dollars in Value"
March 14 2024 - 8:00AM
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 welcomed a letter from around 350
former U.S. government officials and military officers urging the
U.S. Senate to re-evaluate a formal vote on ratifying the United
Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) treaty.
The letter, which follows this week’s introduction of the
Responsible Use of Seafloor Resources Act (RUSRA) in Congress, was
signed by around 189 American ambassadors, 73 generals, 50
admirals, four directors of national intelligence and scores of
other distinguished supporters. The co-signatories warned how
“China and Russia have taken advantage of our absence to work
actively to undermine critical United States economic and national
security interests,” and that the U.S. had “already lost two of our
four ‘USA’ designated deep seabed mine sites, each containing a
trillion dollars in value of the strategic minerals of copper,
nickel, cobalt, manganese and rare earths” needed for national
security and the energy transition.
Since the turn of the decade, increasing U.S. investment in and
prioritization of offshore mineral exploration has been codified
through the formation of various bodies including the National
Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization (NOMEC) Council in
2020, the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC) formed via direction of the
National Defense Authorization Act in 2021, and the declaration of
outer limits of the U.S. extended continental shelf in 2023 which
declared U.S. rights to approximately one million square kilometers
of subsea territory in an effort to protect future economic
opportunities.
Although the U.S. has yet to ratify UNCLOS — a legislative step
that would enable it to access the vast, untapped critical minerals
found in seafloor nodules in international waters — it can still
process and refine critical minerals extracted from polymetallic
nodules collected in international waters.
In December 2023, President Biden signed the National Defense
Authorization Act, through which the House Armed Services Committee
directed the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base
Policy to submit a report to the Committee to assess “the
processing of seabed resources of polymetallic nodules
domestically.”
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 Statements This 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 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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