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NORI and Allseas Lift Over 3,000 Tonnes of Polymetallic Nodules to Surface from Planet’s Largest Deposit of Battery Metals, as Leading Scientists and Marine Experts Continue Gathering Environmental Data
During the historic deepsea trials, engineers drove the pilot collector vehicle across over 80 kilometers of the seafloor, collecting approximately 4,500
About this update from Tmc The Metals Company Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"During the historic deepsea trials, engineers drove the pilot collector vehicle across over 80 kilometers of the seafloor, collecting approximately 4,500 tonnes of nodules and bringing over 3,000 tonnes up a 4.3-km riser system to the surface production vessel, Hidden GemThe Allseas-designed pilot nodule collection system — which will be scaled to include additional collector heads and a wider diameter riser pipe in preparation for NORI’s Project Zero – achieved all pilot production milestones and reached a sustained production rate of 86.4 tonnes per hourConducted across a small test area in NORI-D, collection system trials and ongoing environmental impact monitoring are part of the International Seabed Authority’s regulatory and permitting process and the extensive amount of data gathered will inform TMC subsidiary NORI’s application to the ISA for an exploitation contract NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TMC the metals company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) (“TMC” or the “Company”), an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, today announced that its subsidiary NORI and offshore partner Allseas have successfully concluded the first integrated system test in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean since the 1970s, achieving all significant pilot milestones while collecting approximately 4,500 tonnes of seafloor polymetallic nodules. Over 3,000 tonnes were transported up a 4.3km-long riser system to the surface production vessel, Hidden Gem, while the additional 1,500 tonnes of nodules were purposely left behind on the seafloor as part of the trials. Following initial pilot system commissioning tests, the dedicated team of 130 crew and engineers aboard the Hidden Gem conducted a series of production runs in NORI-D test area to assess the system’s endurance prior to further development into a small-scale commercial system. Driving the pilot nodule collector over 80 kilometers, Allseas engineers put the system through a series of tests achieving a sustained production rate of 86.4 tonnes per hour, roughly equivalent to transporting the mass of 40 Tesla Model S vehicles up the 4.3-km riser pipe every sixty minutes. The pilot system is expected to be scaled up to include additional collector heads and a wider diameter riser pipe in preparation for NORI’s Project Zero, which wi...