The Metals Company to raise $37M for seabed exploration

Led by Hess Capital chief investment officer Michael Hess and SAF Managing Partner Brian Paes-Braga, the registered direct offering will fund TMC’s commercial development plans and is expected to close by May 22, TMC said on Monday.  Proceeds are expected to be sufficient to fund operations until a commercial recovery permit has been issued, the company said.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Michael Hess as a strategic partner,” TMC chairman and CEO Gerard Barron said in a release. “He brings over 15 years of exploration and production experience, as both an investor and operator, along with deep relationships across the US.”

TMC shares gained 6.7% to C$0.64 apiece, for a market capitalization of C$1.15 billion ($820 million). Its shares traded in a 12-month range of C$0.03 to C$0.85.

Regulatory tailwinds

About two weeks ago, TMC filed applications for a commercial recovery permit and two exploration licences under the US seabed mining code, in what Barron said was the world’s first permit application to mine nodules in international waters. That development came just days after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to fast-track offshore mining amid efforts to secure access to domestic sources of critical minerals needed for the green energy transition.

“We believe TMC is a unique company with the potential to play a key role in that effort,” Hess said. “It is exciting to support the emergence of an entirely new resource category of ocean minerals and to help accelerate its development in service of the national interest.”

Under the offering agreement, TMC will issue 12.3 million common shares at C$3 apiece. Each share will carry a Class C warrant to buy an additional share at C$4.50 each.

Seabed bounty

TMC’s two exploration licence applications cover a combined 199,895 sq. km, while the commercial recovery permit covers 25,160 sq. km within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a resource-rich swathe in the central Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. Those areas comprise TMC’s indicated and measured polymetallic nodule resources.

They host 1.63 billion wet metric tonnes of SEC SK 1300-compliant nodules, with an estimated exploration upside of 500 million tonnes, according to TMC. The resource is projected to contain 15.5 million tonnes of nickel, 12.8 million tonnes of copper, 2 million tonnes of cobalt, and 345 million tonnes of manganese — metals critical for batteries, clean energy, infrastructure and defence applications.

Environmental risks

TMC’s plans have met criticism from environmentalists, who have warned that more research is needed before any commercial extraction begins. Opponents cite risks to fragile ecosystems and ocean biodiversity, including some coral-like fauna that have adapted to living on the polymetallic nodules.

TMC has pledged to manage environmental damage by leaving at least 30% of its contract areas untouched. The company also claims its modern nodule collector disturbs only the top three centimetres of seabed sediment, far less than earlier technologies.