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Fair Value Financial Instruments
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]  
Fair Value Financial Instruments
NOTE 12 FAIR VALUE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
Derivative Financial Instruments
Litigation financing
On June 14, 2019, Odyssey and Exploraciones Oceánicas S. de R.L. de C.V., our Mexican subsidiary (“ExO” and, together with Odyssey, the “Claimholder”), and Poplar Falls LLC (the “Funder”) entered into an International Claims Enforcement Agreement (the “Agreement”), pursuant to which the Funder agreed to provide financial assistance to the Claimholder to facilitate the prosecution and recovery of the claim by the Claimholder against the United Mexican States under Chapter Eleven of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) for violations of the Claimholder’s rights under NAFTA related to the development of an undersea phosphate deposit off the coast of Baja Sur, Mexico (the “Project”), on our own behalf and on behalf of ExO and United Mexican States (the “Subject Claim”). Pursuant to the Agreement, the Funder agreed to specified fees and expenses regarding the Subject Claim (the “Claims Payments”) incrementally and at the Funder’s sole discretion. The fair value of this derivative instrument at December 31, 2023 is $52.1 million and is recorded in our consolidated balance sheet in Derivative liabilities and other – long term.
Under the terms of the Agreement, the Funder agreed to make Claims Payments in an aggregate amount not to exceed $6,500,000 (the “Maximum Investment Amount”). The Maximum Investment Amount will be made available to the Claimholder in two phases, as set forth below:
(a) a first phase, in which the Funder shall make Claims Payments in an aggregate amount no greater than $1,500,000 for the payment of antecedent and ongoing costs (“Phase I Investment Amount”); and
(b) a second phase, in which the Funder shall make Claims Payments in an aggregate amount no greater than $5,000,000 for the purposes of pursuing the Subject Claim to a final award (“Phase II Investment Amount”).
Upon exhaustion of the Phase I Investment Amount, the Claimholder will have the option to request Tranche A of the Phase II Investment Amount, consisting of funding up to $3.5 million (“Tranche A Committed Amount”). Upon exhaustion of the Tranche A Committed Amount, the Claimholder will have the option to request Tranche B of the Phase II Investment Amount, consisting of funding of up to $1.5 million (“Tranche B Committed Amount”). The Claimholder must exercise its option to receive the Tranche A Committed Amount in writing, no less than thirty days before submitting a Funding Request to the Funder under Tranche A. The Claimholder must exercise its option to receive the Tranche B Committed Amount in writing within forty-five days after the exhaustion of the Tranche A Committed Amount. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Claimholder agreed that, upon exercising the Claimholder’s option to receive funds under Phase I, Tranche A of Phase II, or Tranche B of Phase II, the Funder will be the sole source of third-party funding for the specified fees and expenses of the Subject Claim under each respective phase and tranche covered by the option exercised, and the Claimholder will obtain funding for such fees and expenses, only as set forth in the Agreement. The Funder was due closing fee of $80,000 for the Phase I Investment Amount, and $80,000 for the Phase II Investment Amount to pay third parties in connection with due diligence and other administrative and transaction costs incurred by the Funder prior to and in furtherance of execution of the Agreement.
Upon the Funder making Claims Payments to the Claimholder or its designees in an aggregate amount equal to the Maximum Investment Amount, the Funder has the option to continue funding the specified fees and expenses in relation to the Subject Claim on the same terms and conditions provided in the Agreement. The Funder must exercise its option to continue funding in writing, within thirty days after the Funder has made Claims Payments in an aggregate amount equal to the Maximum Investment Amount. If the Funder exercises its option to continue funding, the parties agreed to attempt in good faith to amend the Agreement to provide the Funder with the right to provide at the Funder’s discretion funding in excess of the Maximum Investment Amount, in an amount up to the greatest amount that may then be reasonably expected to be committed for investment in Subject Claim. If the Funder declines to exercise its option, the Claimholder may negotiate and enter into agreements with one or more third parties to provide funding, which shall be subordinate to the Funder’s rights under the Agreement.
 
The Agreement provides that the Claimholder may at any time without the consent of the Funder either settle or refuse to settle the Subject Claim for any amount; provided, however, that if the Claimholder settles the Subject Claim without the Funder’s consent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned, or delayed, the value of the Recovery Percentage (as defined below) will be deemed to be the greater of (a) the Recovery Percentage (under Phase I or Phase II, as applicable), or (b) the total amount of all Claims Payments made in connection with such Subject Claim multiplied by three (3).
If the Claimholder ceases the Subject Claim for any reason other than (a) a full and final arbitral award against the Claimholder or (b) a full and final monetary settlement of the claims, including in particular, for a grant of an environmental permit to the Claimholder allowing it to proceed with the Project (with or without a monetary component), all Claims Payments under Phase I and, if Claimholder has exercised the corresponding option, the Tranche A Committed Amount and Tranche B Committed Amount, shall immediately convert to a senior secured liability of the Claimholder. This sum shall incur an annualized internal rate of return (“IRR”) of 50.0% retroactive to the date each Funding Request was paid by the Funder (under Phase I), or, to the conversion date for the Tranche A Committed Amount and Tranche B Committed Amount of Phase II if the Claimholder has exercised the respective option (collectively, the “Conversion Amount”). Such Conversion Amount and any and all accrued IRR shall be payable
in-full
by the Claimholder within 24 months of the date of such conversion, after which time any outstanding Conversion Amounts, shall accrue an (“IRR”) of 100.0%, retroactive to the conversion date (the “Penalty Interest Amount”). The Claimholder will execute such documents and take other actions as necessary to grant the Funder a senior security interest on and over all sums due and owing by the Claimholder in order to secure its obligation to pay the Conversion Amount to the Funder. If the Claimholder ceases the Subject Claim due to the grant of an environmental permit (with or without a monetary component), all Claims Payments under Phase 1 and, if the Claimholder has exercised the corresponding option, the Tranche A Committed Amount and Tranche B Committed Amount shall immediately convert to a senior secured liability of the Claimholder and shall incur an annualized an IRR of 50.0% on the Conversion Amount, from the conversion date. Management has estimated it is more likely than not the Subject Claim will result in the issuance of the environmental permit requiring us to record interest under US GAAP. Reliance should not be placed on this estimate in determining the likely outcome of the Subject Claim.
If, at any time after exercising its option to receive funds under either Tranche A or Tranche B of Phase II, the Claimholder wishes to fund the Subject Claim with its own capital (“Self-Funding”) (which excludes any Claims Payments made, either directly or indirectly, by any other third party), the Claimholder shall immediately pay to the Funder the Conversion Amount, provided that this requirement shall not apply if, after the Funder has made Claims Payments in an aggregate amount equal to the Maximum Investment Amount, the Funder does not exercise its option to provide
Follow-On
Funding.
In the event of any receipt of proceeds resulting from the Subject Claim (“Proceeds”), the Funder shall be entitled to any additional sums above the Conversion Amount to which the Funder is entitled as described below. Should the Claimholder cease the Subject Claim as described above after Self-Funding the Claim, accrued IRR and Penalty Interest shall be calculated and paid to the Funder as set forth above. The Funder’s rights to the Recovery Percentage as defined below shall survive any decision by Claimholder to utilize Self-Funding. The parties acknowledge this Agreement constitutes a sale of the right to a portion of the Proceeds (if any) arising from the Subject Claim as set forth in this Agreement. The Claimholder has relinquished its right to the portion of the proceeds, if any, that the Funder would have the right to as described below. This sale of proceeds is being accounted for under the guidance of ASC 815
Derivatives and Hedging)
On each Distribution Date, distributions of the Proceeds shall be made to the Claimholder and the Funder in accordance with subparagraph (a) or (b) below (the “Recovery Percentage”), as applicable:
(a) If the Claimholder receives only the Phase I Investment Amount from the Funder, the first Proceeds shall be distributed as follows:
(i) first, 100.0% to the Funder, until the cumulative amount distributed to the Funder equals the total Claims Payments paid by the Funder under Phase I;
(ii) second, 100.0% to the Funder until the cumulative amount distributed to the Funder equals an IRR of 20% of Claims Payments paid by the Funder under Phase I (“Phase I Compensation”), per annum; and
(iii) thereafter, 100.0% to the Claimholder.
 
(b) If the Claimholder exercises its options to receive Tranche A or both Tranche A and Tranche B of the Phase II Investment Amount, the first Proceeds shall be distributed as follows:
(i) first, 100.0% to the Funder until the cumulative amount distributed to the Funder equals the total Claims Payments paid by the Funder under Phases I and II;
(ii) second, 100.0% to the Funder until the cumulative amount distributed to the Funder equals an additional 300.0% of Phase I Investment Amount; plus an additional 300% of the Tranche A Committed Amount (i.e. 300.0% of $3.5 million), less any amounts remaining of the Tranche A Committed Amount that the Funder did not pay as Claims Payments; plus an additional 300.0% of the Tranche B Committed Amount (i.e. 300.0% of $1.5 million), if the Claimholder exercises the Tranche B funding option, less any amounts remaining of the Tranche B Committed Amount that the Funder did not pay as Claims Payments;
(iii) third, for each $10,000 in specified fees and expenses paid by the Funder under Phase I and Phase II and any amounts over each $10,000 of the Tranche A Committed Amount and the Tranche B Committed Amount (if the Claimholder exercises the Tranche B funding option), 0.01% of the total Proceeds from any recoveries after repayment of (i) and (ii) above, to the Funder; and
(iv) thereafter, 100% to the Claimholder.
The Agreement provides that if no Proceeds are ever paid to or received by the Claimholder or its representatives and if the environmental permit is not issued, the Funder shall have no right of recourse or right of action against the Claimholder or its representatives, or any of their respective property, assets, or undertakings, except as otherwise specifically contemplated by the Agreement. If (a) Proceeds are paid to or received by the Claimholder or its representatives; (b) such Proceeds are promptly applied and/or distributed by the Claimholder or on behalf of the Claimholder in accordance with the terms of the Agreement; and (c) the amount received by the Funder as a result thereof is not sufficient to pay all of the Recovery Percentage and all of the amounts due to the Funder under the Agreement, then (provided that all of the Proceeds which the Funder will ever be entitled to have been paid to or received by the Funder), the Funder shall have no right of recourse or action against the Claimholder or its Representatives, or any of their property, assets, or undertakings, except as otherwise specifically contemplated by the Agreement. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Claimholder acknowledged the Funder’s priority right, title, and interest in any Proceeds, including against any available collateral to secure its obligations under the Agreement, which security interest shall be first in priority as against all other security interests in the Proceeds. The Claimholder also acknowledged and agreed to execute and authorize the filing of a financing statement or similar and to take such other actions in such jurisdictions as the Funder, in its sole discretion, deems necessary and appropriate to perfect such security interest. The Agreement also includes representations and warranties, covenants, conditions, termination and indemnification provisions, and other provisions customary for comparable arrangements.
Amendment and Restatement (January 31, 2020)
 
  •  
On January 31, 2020, the Claimholder and the Funder entered into an Amended and Restated International Claims Enforcement Agreement (the “Restated Agreement”). The material terms and provisions that were amended or otherwise modified are as follows:
 
  •  
The Funder agreed to provide up to $2.2 million in Arbitration Support Funds for the purpose of paying the Claimholder’s litigation support costs in connection with Subject Claim;
 
  •  
A closing fee of $200,000 was retained by the Funder in connection with due diligence and other transaction costs incurred by the Funder. This closing fee was expensed when incurred;
 
  •  
Warrants to purchase our common stock were issued that are exercisable for a period of five years beginning on the earlier of (a) the date on which the Claimholder ceases the Subject Claim for any reason other than a full and final arbitral award against the Claimholder or a full and final monetary settlement of the claims or (b) the date on which Proceeds are received and deposited into escrow. The exercise price per share is $3.99, and the Funder may exercise the warrant to purchase the number of shares of our common stock equal to the dollar amount of Arbitration Support Funds provided to us pursuant to the Restated Agreement divided by the exercise price per share (subject to customary adjustments and limitations); and
 
  •  
All other terms in the Restated Agreement are substantially the same as in the original Agreement.
During 2020, the Funder provided us with $2.0 million of the Arbitration Support Funds, and we incurred $200,000 in related fees that were treated as an additional advance. Upon each funding, the proceeds were allocated between debt and equity for the warrants based on the relative fair value of the two instruments. As a result, there was an immediate expense of $1,063,811 related to the derivative.
Although the warrants only become exercisable upon the occurrence of future events, they are considered issued for accounting purposes and were valued using a binomial lattice model. The expected volatility assumption was based on the historical volatility of our Common Stock. The expected life assumption was primarily based on management’s expectations of when the warrants will become exercisable and the risk-free interest rate for the expected term of the warrant is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of measurement. As a result, the fair value of these warrants, $1.1 million, was bifurcated from debt and allocated to equity. The debt then was accreted back up to its face value over a period of three years.
Second Amendment and Restatement (December 12, 2020)
On December 12, 2020, the Claimholder and the Funder entered into a Second Amended and Restated International Claims Enforcement Agreement (the “Second Restated Agreement”) relating to the Subject Claim. Under the terms of the Second Restated Agreement, the Funder has made and agreed to make Claims Payments in an aggregate amount not to exceed $20,000,000 (the “Maximum Investment Amount”). The Second Restated Agreement required the Funder to make Claims Payments in an aggregate amount no greater than $10,000,000 for the purposes of pursuing the Subject Claim to a final award (“Phase III Investment Amount”). We also incurred $200,000 in related fees which were treated as an additional advance and were expensed when incurred. This Second Restated Agreement includes the same representations and warranties, covenants, conditions, termination and indemnification provisions, and other provisions as in the original agreement.
Third Amendment and Restatement (June 14, 2021)
On June 14, 2021, the Claimholder and the Funder entered into a Third Amended and Restated International Claims Enforcement Agreement (the “Third Restated Agreement”) relating to the Subject Claim. Under the terms of the Third Restated Agreement, the Funder agreed to make Claims Payments in an aggregate amount not to exceed $25,000,000, an increase of $5.0 million (the “Incremental Amount”). The Third Restated Agreement requires the Claimholder to request $2.5 million of the Incremental Amount (the “First $2.5 Million”). Within 15 days after exhaustion of the First $2.5 Million, the Claimholder may either (a) request the remaining $2.5 million (the “Second $2.5 Million”) of the Incremental Amount or (b) notify the Funder that the Claimholder has decided to self-fund the Second $2.5 Million. We also incurred $80,000 in related fees which were treated as an additional advance. These fees were expensed when incurred. This Third Restated Agreement includes the same representations and warranties, covenants, conditions, termination and indemnification provisions, and other provisions as in the original agreement.
Waiver and Consent (March 6, 2023)
On March 6, 2023, the Claimholder and the Funder under the agreement entered into a Waiver and Consent Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, the Funder consented (i) to consent to allow the Claimholder to fund certain costs and expenses arising from the Subject Claim from the Claimholder’s own capital in an aggregate amount not to exceed $5,000,000, and (ii) Odyssey paid a $1,000,000 nonrefundable waiver fee to the Funder, which was expensed to Other expenses when incurred.
The Company determined that the financing arrangement was a derivative, measured at fair value within the scope of ASC 815 Derivatives and Hedging. Subsequently, any changes in the fair value of the derivative will be reported in earnings on a quarterly basis. Fair value was calculated as the midpoint of estimated ranges of the probability-weighted present value of potential results based on management assumptions. As such, the fair value of the obligation on December 31, 2023, and 2022 was $52.1 million and $45.4 million, respectively, with changes in the fair value of $6.7 million and $15.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
See NOTE 2 for discussion of the correction of a material prior period error and fair value of financial instrument.
See NOTE 11 Loan Payable for discussion related to the accounting for the 37N embedded derivative.
Warrant Liability
2022 Warrant
On June 10, 2022, we sold an aggregate of 4,939,515 shares of our Common Stock and the 2022 Warrant to holders to purchase up to 4,939,515 shares of our common stock. The net proceeds received from sale, after offering expenses of $1.8 million, were $14.7 million. The shares of common stock and warrants were sold in units, with each unit consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $3.35 (the “2022 Warrant Price”) per share of common stock. Each unit was sold at a negotiated price of $3.35 per unit. The 2022 Warrant is exercisable at any time beginning on December 10, 2022, and ending on the close of business on June 10, 2027.
Under the terms of the 2022 Warrant agreement, the Holders are entitled, to purchase from the Company one share of Common Stock, at the price of $3.35 per share. The Company in its sole discretion may lower the 2022 Warrant Price at any time prior to the expiration date for a period of not less than twenty Business Days, provided that the Company shall provide at least twenty days prior written notice of such reduction to Holders of the 2022 Warrant and provided further that any such reduction shall be identical among all of the 2022 Warrant.
 
A Warrant may be exercised by the Holder by delivering the aggregate exercise price unless the Holder chooses net settlement via the cashless exercise option if, there is no active registration statement or available prospectus for the issuance of the Warrant Shares by the Holder. In a cashless exercise, the Holder will receive a number of Warrant Shares determined by dividing
[(A-B)
(X)] by (A), where (A) represents volume-weighted average price of the common stock or the bid price of common stock, depending on the circumstances, (B) represents the Exercise Price of the Warrant, as adjusted, and (X) represents the number of Warrant Shares that would be issued upon exercise of the Warrant, if it were a cash exercise rather than a cashless exercise.
If the Company fails to deliver the Warrant Shares to the Holder within a time frame required by the agreement, and the Holder is forced to purchase shares of Common Stock to fulfill a sale that was based on receiving the Warrant Shares (referred to as a
“Buy-In”),
then the Company must reimburse the Holder in cash for the difference between the total purchase price of the Common Stock purchased and the product of the number of Warrant Shares that should have been delivered and the sale price at which the obligation to purchase arose. The 2022 Warrants also included customary adjustments to the exercise price and the number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise in the event of a stock split, recapitalization, reclassification, combination or exchange of shares, separation, reorganization, liquidation, or the like.
The Company determined that the 2022 Warrant meets the definition of a derivative and is not considered indexed to the Company’s own stock due to the input related to the price per share and any
non-cash
consideration. Management determined that this input would preclude the 2022 Warrant from being indexed to the Company’s stock given that this input could be affected by variables that are extraneous to the pricing of a
fixed-for-fixed
option or forward contract on equity shares. As such, the 2022 Warrant was recognized as derivative liabilities and will be initially and subsequentially measured at fair value with the gain or loss due to changes in fair value recognized in the current period. The Company noted that when debt is issued with liability-classified stock purchase warrants, the residual method should be used so that the warrants are recognized at fair value at issuance and the residual proceeds are allocated to the debt.
Management determined that the $1.8 million in incremental costs directly attributable to the Common Stock Offering and the issuance of the 2022 Warrant shall be allocated between the two instruments in proportion to the allocation of the issuance proceeds. Furthermore, the incremental costs allocated to the Common Stock were recorded as a reduction of the proceeds in equity while the incremental costs allocated to the 2022 Warrant of $1.087 million were expensed as incurred.
See NOTE 2 for discussion of the correction of a material prior period error and fair value of financial instrument.
See NOTE 11 Loan payable for discussion related to the accounting for the December 2023 Warrants.
Warrants
The Company’s oustanding and exercisable warrants as of December 31, 2023 are presented below:
 
Issue Date
    Exercise Price      Total
Warrants
Outstanding		      Exercisable
Warrants
Outstanding		      Expiration Date  
6/10/2022
    $ 3.35        4,848,963        4,848,963        6/10/2027  
3/6/2023
    $ 3.78        3,703,711        3,703,711        3/6/2026  
Various 2020
    $ 3.99        551,378        551,378       
**
12/1/2023
    $ 4.25        1,411,769        1,411,769        12/1/2026  
8/25/2020
    $ 4.75        1,873,622        1,873,622        2/25/2024  
7/19/2019
    $ 5.76        196,135        196,135        7/8/2024  
12/1/2023
    $ 7.09        211,570        211,570        12/1/2026  
     
 
 
     
 
 
     
        12,797,148        12,797,148     
     
 
 
     
 
 
     
 
**
A five-year exercise period commences upon the earliest occurrence of either Trigger Date A or Trigger Date B. Trigger Date A is the date on which the Claimholder ceases the Subject Claim for any reason other than (i) a full and final arbitral award against the Claimholder or (ii) a full and final monetary settlement of the claim, see Note 12 Fair Value Financial Instruments – Litigation Financing. Trigger Date B is the date on which Proceeds are deposited into the Escrow Account.
Warrants
The Company’s fair value imputs of the warrants as of December 31, 2023 are presented below:
 
Issue Date
    Stock price      Exercise price      Term in years      Volitility    Treasury Yield  
6/10/2022
    $ 4.65      $ 3.35        5 years      62.8%      3.84 % 
3/6/2023
    $ 4.65      $ 3.78        3 years      63.7%      4.61 % 
12/1/2023
    $ 4.65      $ 4.25        3 years     
58.3%-59.9%
      4.31 % 
12/1/2023
    $ 4.65      $ 7.09        3 years      58.3%-59.9%      4.31 % 
Derivative liabilities
The Company’s fair value imputs of derivative liabilities as of December 31, 2023 are presented below:
 
Issue Date
    Stock price      Exercise price      Term in years    Volitility     Treasury Yield  
6/29/2023
    $ 4.65      $ 3.70      0.75 year      59.5 %      5.0 % 
6/4/2023
    $ 4.65      $ 4.40      1 year      66.9 %      4.8 % 
Put Option Liability
See NOTE 7 Investment in Unconsolidated Entities for discussion regarding the Ocean Minerals, LLC Exchange Agreement.