TMC the metals company (NASDAQ:TMC) shares jumped about 7% on Thursday after the company submitted what it says is the first consolidated application for deep-seabed mining under a new process overseen by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a move that materially expands the area covered by its expected commercial recovery permit.
The application, filed by TMC’s U.S. subsidiary, is the first to be made under NOAA’s consolidated application and review framework, which the company believes could shorten permitting timelines. If approved, the filing would increase TMC’s commercial recovery area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean from roughly 25,000 square kilometers to about 65,000 square kilometers.
TMC said the enlarged area hosts an estimated 619 million tonnes of wet polymetallic nodules, with potential exploration upside of a further 200 million tonnes. These nodules contain nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese, with the company citing metal grades of around 3.2% nickel equivalent and 7% copper equivalent.
Chairman and chief executive Gerard Barron said the submission “represents the culmination of more than a decade of disciplined scientific, engineering, and environmental work” and shows the company’s “readiness to proceed to commercial operations under the U.S. regulatory framework.”
The application draws on data gathered from 27 offshore research cruises, thousands of seabed samples and what TMC describes as the most extensive integrated deep-sea test mining programme conducted since the 1970s. The company also pointed to recently published peer-reviewed studies which it says indicate that biodiversity disruption and sediment plume effects are largely limited to areas directly mined.
TMC added that the filing is consistent with Executive Order 14285, “Unleashing America’s Critical Offshore Minerals and Resources,” which designates critical minerals as a national security priority.