The Metals Company Explained

TMC the metals company Inc.
Trading Name:The Metals Company
Former Name:DeepGreen Metals
Type:Public
Hq Location:Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Website:metals.co

TMC the metals company Inc.,[1] doing business as The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen Metals, is a Canadian deep sea mining exploration company.[2] The company focuses on the mining of polymetallic (nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese) nodules[3] [4] 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.[5] 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."[6]

Criticism

Industry observers questioned the company's "green" positioning.[7] 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.[8] [9] 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.”[10] 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.[11]

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.[12] The speed of life and development on the ocean floor is very slow, disturbances, even minor, may have long-lasting effects.[13]

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.[14]

In 2024, the company was subject to scrutiny on an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.[15]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: XBRL Viewer . 2024-06-14 . www.sec.gov . en.
  2. Web site: Mining's Tesla moment: DeepGreen harvests clean metals from the seafloor. 2021-08-10. MINING.COM. en-US. 2021-08-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20210810123453/https://www.mining.com/web/minings-tesla-moment-deepgreen-harvests-clean-metals-seafloor/. live.
  3. News: A Mining Startup's Rush for Underwater Metals Comes with Deep Risks - Bloomberg . . 24 June 2021 . 2021-06-28 . 2021-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210628211804/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-24/a-mining-startup-s-rush-for-underwater-metals-comes-with-deep-risks . live .
  4. News: Environmental Investing Frenzy Stretches Meaning of 'Green'. Justin Scheck, Eliot Brown and Ben. Foldy. Wall Street Journal. June 24, 2021. www.wsj.com. June 28, 2021. June 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210628211913/https://www.wsj.com/articles/environmental-investing-frenzy-stretches-meaning-of-green-11624554045. live.
  5. Web site: DeepGreen to go public in $2.9bn SPAC deal | Sustainability. Mining Global. 5 March 2021 . 2021-06-28. 2021-06-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210628214057/https://miningglobal.com/sustainability-1/deepgreen-go-public-dollar29bn-spac-deal. live.
  6. Web site: Bosch. Hieronymus. 2021-04-06. COLUMN Ocean Mining: DeepGreen to list and become The Metals Company as major car makers and WWF press for moratorium on seabed mineral extraction [Offshore Accounts]]. 2021-08-10. Baird Maritime. en-US. 2021-08-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20210810122026/https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/offshore-world/column-ocean-mining-deepgreen-to-list-and-become-the-metals-company-as-major-car-makers-and-wwf-press-for-moratorium-on-seabed-mineral-extraction-offshore-accounts/. live.
  7. Web site: Woody. Todd. 2021-06-23. A Mining Startup's Rush for Underwater Metals Comes with Deep Risks. live. 2021-08-10. Bloomberg Green. 2021-08-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20210814025545/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-24/a-mining-startup-s-rush-for-underwater-metals-comes-with-deep-risks.
  8. Web site: The Race for EV Parts Leads to Risky Deep-Ocean Mining. 2021-08-10. Yale E360. en-US. 2021-08-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20210809151501/https://e360.yale.edu/features/the-race-for-ev-parts-leads-to-risky-deep-ocean-mining. live.
  9. Web site: 2020-06-16. Deep-sea mining: An environmental solution or impending catastrophe?. 2021-08-10. Mongabay Environmental News. en-US. 2021-08-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20210810122027/https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/deep-sea-mining-an-environmental-solution-or-impending-catastrophe/. live.
  10. Web site: Deep-Sea Mining Science Statement. 2021-08-10. Deep-Sea Mining Science Statement. en-US. 2021-08-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20210809150752/https://www.seabedminingsciencestatement.org/. live.
  11. Web site: 2021-04-01. DeepGreen hits backs at firms opposing seafloor mining. 2021-08-10. MINING.COM. en-US. 2021-08-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20210810122026/https://www.mining.com/deep-green-hits-backs-at-firms-opposing-seafloor-mining/. live.
  12. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/04/the-metals-company-puts-out-controversial-timeline-for-deep-sea-mining.html. |CNBC: the metals company puts out controversial timeline for deep sea mining
  13. Niner . Holly J. . Ardron . Jeff A. . Escobar . Elva G. . Gianni . Matthew . Jaeckel . Aline . Jones . DAniel O.B. . Levin . Lisa A. . Smith . Craig R. . Thiele . Torsten . Turner . Philip J.. Deep-Sea Mining with no net Loss of Biodiversity - An impossible aim. . Frontiers in Marine Science . 1 March 2018 . 5 . 53 . 10.3389/fmars.2018.00053 . free .
  14. Sweetman . Andrew K. . Smith . Alycia J. . de Jonge . Danielle S. W. . Hahn . Tobias . Schroedl . Peter . Silverstein . Michael . Andrade . Claire . Edwards . R. Lawrence . Lough . Alastair J. M.. Woulds . Clare. Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor . Nature Geoscience . 22 July 2024 . 17 . 8 . 737 . 10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8 . 2024NatGe..17..737S . free .
  15. Web site: 2024-06-10 . John Oliver on deep-sea mining: 'Time that we stop treating the deep ocean as something to exploit' . 2024-09-01 . the Guardian . en.

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