Drawing on more than four decades of offshore engineering experience and the successful 2022 pilot nodule recovery test in which 3,000 tonnes of nodules were lifted to the surface, Allseas will complete the procurement, integration, and operation of what the Company expects will be the world’s first commercial nodule production system. The system will comprise two nodule collector vehicles and their Launch and Recovery Systems (LARS), a riser system, the surface production vessel Hidden Gem, and a transfer vessel. Collected nodules will be transferred to bulk carriers at sea and then transported to designated ports for processing.
TMC and Allseas first entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement in 2019 and have worked together since to advance a clear pathway to commercial nodule recovery operations. Under the new Agreement, Allseas will fund a significant portion of development costs, recoverable through production revenues, further aligning both parties around successful commercial operations.
Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, commented: “This Agreement with Allseas is now the contractual cornerstone of our strategic alliance with Allseas: it establishes a clear commercial framework for how we complete the development and commissioning of our first commercial-scale nodule recovery system and start offshore nodule recovery operations. In addition to being our largest strategic shareholder, Allseas has been an outstanding, mission-aligned technical partner. They didn’t just prove their system works; they worked closely with us to take every opportunity to further refine the design to minimize the environmental footprint based on the extensive baselining and monitoring of the field test, and are willing to help us finance system development costs. Together, we are moving from firsts in deep-sea science and engineering towards first commercial recovery operations.”
The offshore production system is designed for a nameplate production capacity of 3.0 million wet tonnes per annum (Mtpa) and reflects the operating configuration and initial phase of the development program outlined in TMC’s SEC-compliant S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary of Preliminary Feasibility Study of NORI Area D (PFS) published in August 2025. The system is expected to operate with two tracked collector vehicles working in parallel on the seafloor, delivering nodules to the surface production vessel before transport to shore for processing.
In preparation for offshore production, Allseas has completed conceptual and basic engineering for several key long-lead components, including the four-kilometer-long riser pipe, LARS, the umbilical connecting the collector vehicles to the Hidden Gem, and other key components.
The development of the first commercial nodule recovery system marks a defining moment for Allseas and the Company, which has delivered many of the nodule industry’s firsts since its founding in 2011.
Resource & Economics
- 1st Canadian NI 43-101 nodule resource statement
- 1st US SEC S-K 1300 nodule resource statement
- 1st US SEC S-K 1300 nodule PFS
- 1st US SEC S-K 1300 declared nodule mineral reserves
Nodule Collection
- 1st integrated pilot mining test in the CCZ since the 1970s
- Multiple innovations in system design informed by environmental baseline and pilot data
Nodule Processing & Refining
- 1st near zero-solid-waste flowsheet design
- 1st production of NiCuCo alloy since the 1970s
- 1st production of NiCuCo matte
- 1st production of Ni sulfate
- 1st production of Co sulfate
- 1st production of Mn sulfate
- 1st production of Mn silicate and NiCuCo alloy at industrial scale
Permitting & Environmental Impact Assessment for Nodules
- 1st application for commercial recovery permit to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- 1st consolidated application to NOAA
- 1st consolidated application to be deemed fully compliant by NOAA
- 1st integrated collection plan
- 1st completed environmental baseline study
- 1st in-situ geotechnical cone penetration test measurements in the CCZ
- 1st complete environmental monitoring as part of an integrated pilot mining test
- 1st midwater discharge plume model
- 1st calibrated seafloor production sound model
- 1st profiling of collector seafloor plume using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers
- 1st integrated seafloor-to-surface environmental impact assessment (EIA)
- 1st commercial lifecycle impacts assessment (LCA)