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Nature of Operations | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2024
Nature of Operations |
Nature of Operations |
1. | Nature of Operations
TMC the metals company Inc. (“TMC” or the “Company”) has been operating as a corporation under the laws of the province of British Columbia, Canada since September 9, 2021. The Company’s corporate office, registered address and records office is located at 1111 West Hastings Street, 15th Floor, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6E 2J3. The Company’s common shares and warrants to purchase common shares are listed for trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under tickers “TMC” and “TMCWW”, respectively. The Company is a deep-sea minerals exploration company focused on the collection and processing of polymetallic nodules found on the seafloor in international waters of the Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean (“CCZ”), located approximately 1,300 nautical miles southwest of San Diego, California. These nodules contain four metals (nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese) which can be used as (i) feedstock for battery cathode precursors (nickel and cobalt sulfates, or intermediary nickel-copper-cobalt matte, or nickel-copper-cobalt alloy) for electric vehicles (“EV”) and energy storage markets, (ii) copper cathode for EV wiring, energy transmission and other applications and (iii) manganese silicate for manganese alloy production required for steel production. Exploration and exploitation of seabed minerals in international waters is regulated by the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”), an intergovernmental organization established pursuant to the 1994 Agreement Relating to the Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The ISA grants contracts to sovereign states or to private contractors who are sponsored by a sovereign state. The Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (“NORI”), was granted an exploration contract (the “NORI Exploration Contract”) by the ISA in July 2011 under the sponsorship of the Republic of Nauru (“Nauru”) giving NORI exclusive rights to explore for polymetallic nodules in an area covering 74,830 square kilometers in the CCZ (“NORI Area”). On March 31, 2020, the Company acquired Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (“TOML”), which was granted an exploration contract (the “TOML Exploration Contract”) by the ISA in January 2012 under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Tonga (“Tonga”) and has exclusive rights to explore for polymetallic nodules covering an area of 74,713 square kilometers in the CCZ (“TOML Area”). In 2013, the Company through its subsidiary DeepGreen Engineering Pte. Ltd. (“DGE”) entered into an option agreement (the “Marawa Option Agreement”) with Marawa Research and Exploration Limited (“Marawa”) which granted DGE exclusive rights to manage and carry out all exploration and exploitation in the Marawa Area in return for a royalty payable to Marawa. On November 14, 2024, DGE issued a formal termination notice to Marawa pursuant to DGE’s right to terminate for convenience under the Agreement. The termination became effective on January 14, 2025. The realization of the Company’s assets and attainment of profitable operations is dependent upon many factors including, among other things: financing being arranged by the Company to continue operations, development of a nodule collection system for the recovery of polymetallic nodules from the seafloor as well as development of processing technology for the treatment of polymetallic nodules at commercial scale, the establishment of mineable reserves, the commercial and technical feasibility of seafloor polymetallic nodule collection and processing, metal prices, and regulatory approvals and environmental permitting for commercial operations. The outcome of these matters cannot presently be determined because they are contingent on future events and may not be fully under the Company’s control.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/275/tableOfContent Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a) -SubTopic 10 -Topic 275 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-1 + Details
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