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A Deeper Look at OML Opportunity

Government support is crucial to development. We recently had an opportunity to speak with Hans Smit, CEO of Ocean Minerals LLC (OML), about the battery metals resource the company is developing in Cook Islands. Its government was the first in the world to publish deep-sea mining regulations in 2009 and remains supportive of developing an environmentally responsible deep-sea mining industry in the country to help diversify its revenue stream from international aid and tourism, while contributing to global efforts to decarbonize the economy. This report contains a transcript of the fireside chat from January 25, 2024, which can be accessed on demand in our full report or on our website. A transformational resource. OML’s wholly owned subsidiary, Moana Minerals Ltd. holds a license from Cook Islands to explore a ~23,000 km2 area of the ocean floor at depths of ~5,000 meters, with the goal of developing and commercializing polymetallic nodule resource containing cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese, and rare earth elements critical to enabling the energy transformation currently underway across the globe. Early results that encompass about 30% of the license area suggest an extraordinarily abundant (1M metric tons (mt) cobalt deposit, along with substantial amounts of nickel (0.5M mt), copper (350,000 mt), and manganese (32M mt). The recently completed campaign to explore the remaining 70% of the license area is expected to more than double the indicated and inferred quantities of these metals and increases the indicated portion, thereby substantially increasing the NPV of the resource. Strong development partners. To complement its internal team and advance the development of the resource, OML has established partnerships with a number of industry-leading entities, all experts in their respective fields, including Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX), Transocean (NYSE: RIG) in a separate partnership with DEME (BRU: DEME), as well as world-leading scientific organizations, like the NIWA, NOC, NHM, and SAMS, with the goal of expeditiously conducting environmental baseline campaigns, compiling environmental impact statements. and applications for the required permits. The expert collaborative team is also undertaking geologic and engineering activities to facilitate feasibility studies, including design of nodule collection and processing technologies that will allow for a successful commercial exploitation of the resource. Important milestones ahead. The completed exploration campaign results are expected to be published in 2Q24, with the prefeasibility report expected in 3Q24 and environmental application submittal targeted for late 2025, or early 2026, followed shortly thereafter by the mining license application. As these milestones are delivered, the project valuation may expand as more certainty in its development is gained and higher percentage of its NPV is reflected in the value, benefiting OMEX as one of the project partners.