Despite illegal disruptions from Greenpeace International aimed at hindering the collection of key environmental data requested by the ISA’s Legal and Technical Commission, researchers were able to complete the major components of the scientific work scope slated for the campaign. The data gathered will further support NORI’s application to the International Seabed Authority for a commercial exploitation contract, which it expects to submit following the July 2024 meeting of the ISA.

Additional qualitative data acquired this month using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) at the seafloor in the NORI-D area show that sessile organisms identified during NORI’s environmental baseline studies are still present twelve months after its pilot nodule collection system test in areas that have been influenced by the seafloor plume.

TMC the metals company Inc., an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, today announced that it has successfully collected an initial batch of seafloor polymetallic nodules, and transported them up a 4km-long riser system to the surface, in what represents the first integrated system test conducted in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean since the 1970s.

The Metals Company (TMC), an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, today announced that the International Seabed Authority has completed its review of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan (EMMP) submitted by its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), and recommended that it proceed with its forthcoming collector test.

TMC the metals company Inc., an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, today announced the successful completion of initial deep-water trials of the polymetallic nodule collector vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean. Engineers successfully lowered the Allseas-designed collector vehicle to the seafloor at depths of 2,470 meters, marking the first time the vehicle had been subjected to ultra-deep-water temperatures and pressures. Engineers then subjected the vehicle to extensive testing of its various pumps and critical mobility functions, driving 1,018 meters across the seafloor.

Following earlier harbor wet-testing, the Allseas-designed pilot nodule collector vehicle was deployed from the Hidden Gem and lowered to the seafloor in open sea conditions. A range of critical drive functions were successfully tested, confirming the collector’s capability to manoeuvre forwards and backwards at various speeds and in different directions, as well as to lower and raise the nodule collector heads.