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Commitments and Contingent Liabilities | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities |
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities | 10.Commitments and Contingent Liabilities NORI Exploration Contract As part of the NORI Exploration Contract with the ISA, NORI submitted a periodic review report to the ISA in 2021, covering the 2017-2021 period. The periodic review report, which included a proposed work plan and estimated budget for 2022 to 2026, has been reviewed by and agreed with the ISA, and we are implementing the next five-year plan. NORI has estimated its work plan for 2022 and 2023 to be approximately $40 million and $25 million, respectively, which may be settled in cash or equity. The cost of the estimated work plan for 2024 onwards is contingent on the ISA’s approval of the NORI Area D exploitation application. Should the approval of NORI’s exploitation application for NORI Area D be delayed or rejected, NORI intends to revise its estimated future work plan in respect of its NORI Area. Work plans are reviewed annually by the Company, agreed with the ISA and may be subject to change depending on the Company’s progress to date. Marawa Exploration Contract Through DGE’s Marawa Option Agreement and Services Agreement with Marawa with respect to the Marawa Area, Marawa and DGE committed to spend a defined amount of funds on exploration activities on an annual basis. The commitment for fiscal 2022, 2023 and 2024 is Australian dollar (“AUD”) $1 million, AUD $3 million and AUD $2 million, respectively. Such commitment is negotiated with the ISA as part of a five-year plan submission and is subject to regular periodic reviews. To date, very limited offshore marine resource definition activities in the Marawa Contract Area have occurred and DGE expects to commit future resources as contractually agreed with Marawa to evaluate the future commercial viability of any project in such area. Marawa has not completed adequate exploration to establish the economic viability of any project in the Marawa Contract Area. Further work will need to be conducted in order to assess the viability of any potential project in the Marawa Contract Area and such work may take several years until such assessment can be made. Marawa has delayed certain of its efforts in the Marawa Contract Area while it determines how it will move forward with additional assessment work. TOML Exploration Contract As part of the TOML Exploration Contract, TOML submitted a periodic review report to the ISA in 2021, covering the 2017-2021 period. The periodic review report included a summary of work completed over the five-year period and a program of activities and estimated budget for the next five-year period. TOML had committed to spend $30.0 million over the five-year period from 2017 to 2021. Such commitment has flexibility where the amount can be reduced and such reduction would be dependent upon various factors including the success of the exploration programs and the availability of funding. The Company has spent approximately $13.3 million in connection with the TOML Exploration Contract from 2017 to 2021. The ISA has reviewed TOML’s periodic review report for the 2017-2021 period and submitted its initial findings at the end of September 2022, which management is currently reviewing. Contingent Liability On October 28, 2021, a shareholder filed a putative class action against the Company and certain of its executives in federal district court for the Eastern District of New York, styled Caper v. TMC The Metals Company Inc. F/K/A Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp., Gerard Barron and Scott Leonard. The complaint alleges that all defendants violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, and Messrs. Barron and Leonard violated Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose information about the Company’s operations and prospects during the period from March 4, 2021 and October 5, 2021. On November 15, 2021, a second complaint containing substantially the same allegations was filed, captioned Tran v. TMC the Metals Company, Inc. These cases have been consolidated. On March 6, 2022, a lead plaintiff was selected. An amended complaint was filed on May 12, 2022, reflecting substantially similar allegations. The Company denies any allegations of wrongdoing and the Company has filed and served the plaintiff a motion to dismiss on July 12, 2022 and intends to defend against this lawsuit. As of September 26, 2022, the motion to dismiss is fully briefed and the parties are awaiting a ruling. There is no assurance, however, that the Company or the other defendants will be successful in their defense of this lawsuit or that insurance will be available or adequate to fund any settlement or judgment or the litigation costs of this action. If the motion to dismiss is unsuccessful, there is a possibility that the Company may incur a loss in this matter. Such losses or range of possible losses either cannot be reliably estimated. A resolution of this lawsuit adverse to the Company or the other defendants, however, could have a material effect on the Company’s financial position and results of operations in the period in which the lawsuit is resolved.

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