Biodiversity data from NORI-D Exploration Area now available on UNESCO’s Ocean Biodiversity Information System, increases biodiversity records for the Clarion-Clipperton Zone by approximately 150%

• Following the publication of biodiversity data collected from the NORI-D Exploration Area on UNESCO’s Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) on June 22, 2023, The Metals Company’s subsidiary, NORI, will become the largest contributor of biological occurrence data to the OBIS ISA node. biodiversity records available for the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) by approximately 150%.

• NORI data now available on the OBIS ISA node represents less than half of the total dataset collected to date, with the remaining basic biological data currently being collected and further submissions expected in the coming months to ISA DeepData and the OBIS ISA node.

• The ISA node provides access to a wealth of information about the deep sea and biological resources in the global commons that the entire society can use. In one week since its publication on OBIS, NORI-D biodiversity records have been downloaded 67 times and the total number of occurrence records downloaded has exceeded 4.4 million.

• The complete NORI-D dataset is expected to be one of the most comprehensive datasets ever collected from the deep sea and will form the basis of NORI’s Environmental Impact Assessment, an integral part of its application to the International Seabed Authority for an exploitation contract in NORI-D. D area.

NEW YORK, July 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TMC the metals company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) (“TMC” or the “Company”), an explorer of the world’s largest estimated untapped source of critical battery metals, today announced that data submitted in March 2023 by its subsidiary NORI to the DeepData platform of the International Seabed Authority, have now been made publicly available through UNESCO’s Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), increasing the records for biodiversity occurrence in the OBIS ISA node for the Clarion Clipperton Zone by approximately 150%.

As the first UN body to join the OBIS network, the ISA publishes biodiversity data collected by contractors and submitted to its DeepData platform to the OBIS ISA node. The publication of this first set of data to the OBIS ISA node follows NORI’s decade-long research effort to define the polymetallic nodule source and develop an ecological baseline for its NORI-D exploration area, as part of its environmental and social impact assessment ( ESIA). ) for the NORI-D Knobbel Project. Since 2012, the company has been collaborating with leading industry experts and independent scientists from marine research institutions around the world on its ESIA, collecting data from 17 offshore campaigns, representing more than 470 days of operational research in the NORI-D area.

Collected using a range of high-tech equipment, the NORI dataset now available on OBIS includes more than 1,400 biological samples from extensive boxcore and multicore sampling, and more than 8,000 images analyzed for benthic megafauna captured by remotely operated vehicles from two offshore campaigns. With NORI’s initial ISA submission to DeepData, significantly expanding the biological holdings included in it, the upload of this data to OBIS will make NORI the largest data provider for the OBIS ISA node, which serves nearly 60% of provides the records. OBIS holds the world’s largest scientific knowledge base on the diversity, distribution and abundance of all marine organisms.

The NORI dataset is now available for public inquiry and inquiry. Since its publication on June 22, 2023, records from the NORI dataset have been downloaded 67 times and the total number of occurrence records downloaded to date exceeds 4.4 million.

Dr. Michael Clarke, environmental manager at The Metals Company, said: “Through our own research efforts and by publicly sharing our data, we expect NORI-D’s 3D environment to become one of the most characterized regions of our planet’s oceans. . This is just a taste of things to come and we look forward to sharing data from additional campaigns, as well as any remaining data on ocean geochemistry, bathymetry and pelagic biodiversity, with the scientific community once we complete the laborious process of analyzing this wealth of information.”

In the coming months, NORI will continue to work with research teams to fully compile and categorize the hundreds of terabytes of data and thousands of biological samples collected to date. NORI expects many more papers to be published in peer-reviewed journals in the coming months and years, which will contribute significantly to society’s understanding of the deep sea.

About The Metal Company


The Metals Company is an explorer of lower impact battery metals from seabed polymetallic nodules, with a dual mission: (1) to provide metals for the clean energy transition with minimal negative environmental and social impact and (2) to transition to a circular metal economy. The company, through its subsidiaries, holds the exploration and commercial rights to three contract areas for polymetallic nodules 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.

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Forward-Looking Statements


Certain statements in this press release are not historical facts, but are forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as “believe”, “may” , “will”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect”, “should”, “should”, “plan”, “predict”, “potential”, “seem , “”searching”, “future”, “forecasts” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or are not statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the submission and review of our data collected during two benthic baseline campaigns in the NORI-D areas, as well as remaining baseline data and samples, including geochemical and biological samples . samples from the water column, currently collected and categorized by TMC. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are beyond TMC’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: regulatory uncertainties and the impact of government regulation and political instability on TMC’s resource operations; changes in laws, rules, regulations or policies to which TMC is subject; the impact of extensive and costly environmental requirements on TMC’s operations; environmental obligations; the impact of polymetallic nodules collection on Clarion Clipperton Zone biodiversity and recovery rates of degraded ecosystems; TMC’s ability to develop minerals in sufficient quality or quantities to warrant commercial operations; the lack of development of polymetallic nodules on the seabed; uncertainty in the estimates for calculations of mineral resources from certain contract areas and for the quality and quality of polymetallic nodules deposits; risks associated with natural hazards; uncertainty regarding the specialized treatment and processing of polymetallic nodules that TMC can repair; risks associated with the collection, development and processing of polymetallic nodules; risks associated with TMC’s limited business history; risks associated with TMC’s intellectual property and the validity, use and ownership of new technology or intellectual property therein; and other risks and uncertainties identified from time to time in the Company’s Form 10K, dated and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 27, 2023, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in other future filings of TMC with the SEC. TMC cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. TMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. TMC does not undertake or assume any obligation or undertaking to publicly release updates or revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. law.

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