Water Tower Hour Recap: CFO Craig Shesky and Head of Stakeholder Engagement Corey McLachlan
TMC’s CFO Craig Shesky and Head of Stakeholder Engagement Corey McLachlan joined the Water Tower Hour podcast. TMC is the first and, so far, only company to develop the technology and production flowsheet to economically exploit what MINING.com has ranked as the largest and second-largest nickel resource in the world. Shesky provided an overview of the company and its ambition to collect and process polymetallic nodules in order to enable the world’s transition to metals-based energy storage and mobility powertrain. McLachlan explained the origins and purpose of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and its mandate to develop international regulations (mining code) for exploitation of undersea resources in a way to benefit developing nations, and to protect fragile environments and ensure equitable outcomes for all stakeholders. McLachlan provided a summary of the compromise reached in July between the majority of the ISA’s member states looking to complete the regulatory development process and the 20 or so nations, including major land-based mining jurisdictions, insisting on a moratorium in such a development. The new timetable now calls for the mining code to be completed by July 2024. McLachlan discussed the implications of Article 15 of the ISA charter under which TMC can submit and the ISA must evaluate an exploitation application and the role the Legal and Technical Commission of the ISA plays in the process. Shesky outlined the steps TMC will be taking and the work that will be involved in preparing the NORI-D exploitation application for submission after July 2024. The plan includes the upgrade of Project Zero collection equipment and data collection from the NORI-D zone where more than 4,000 metric tons of nodules were collected as part of the large-scale pilot trial in 4Q22. Shesky highlighted the enormous amount of scientific data collected by TMC over its many at-sea campaigns and submitted to international scientific data banks for use by scientists to properly evaluate relevant aspects related to biodiversity of fragile ecosystems and the environmental impact of deep-sea mining versus land-based alternatives. Listen Here. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.