The Metals Company

The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen Metals, is a Canadian deep sea mining exploration company.[1] The company is focused on the deep sea mining of seafloor polymetallic nodules.[2][3]

The Metals Company
TypePublic
Founded2011
HeadquartersVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Websitemetals.co

In March 2021, DeepGreen Metals revealed it will be acquired by Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) in a $2.9 billion deal.[4] Baird Maritime noted that The Metals Company had no revenue or production as of April 2021, and highlighted the risky nature of the company's commercialization efforts: "Nobody has successfully managed to commercially harvest the nickel, copper, manganese, and cobalt from the nodules in 4,500 metres of water since interest was first stimulated in seabed mining in the 1970s."[5]

Industry observers have called into question the company's "green" positioning in order to capitalize on a surge in environmentally-friendly investments.[3][6] The Wall Street Journal noted that the company's CEO, Gerard Barron, previously backed another deep sea mining company that "lost a half-billion dollars of investor money, got crosswise with a South Pacific government, destroyed sensitive seabed habitat and ultimately went broke".[3]

Many scientists have expressed concerns over the inherent risks and lack of data about the possible consequences of deep-sea mining.[7][8] In response to DeepGreen's efforts in Nauru, over 400 scientists signed a statement in opposition of deep-sea mining, arguing that it would result in the “loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales.”[7][9] DeepGreen published an open letter defending its practices after four major corporations–BMW, Volvo, Google, and Samsung SDI–supported a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.[10]

References
  1. "Mining's Tesla moment: DeepGreen harvests clean metals from the seafloor". MINING.COM. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  2. "A Mining Startup's Rush for Underwater Metals Comes with Deep Risks - Bloomberg". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  3. Foldy, Justin Scheck, Eliot Brown and Ben (June 24, 2021). "Environmental Investing Frenzy Stretches Meaning of 'Green'". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021 – via www.wsj.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "DeepGreen to go public in $2.9bn SPAC deal | Sustainability". Mining Global. Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  5. Bosch, Hieronymus (2021-04-06). "COLUMN | Ocean Mining: DeepGreen to list and become The Metals Company as major car makers and WWF press for moratorium on seabed mineral extraction [Offshore Accounts]". Baird Maritime. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  6. Woody, Todd (2021-06-23). "A Mining Startup's Rush for Underwater Metals Comes with Deep Risks". Bloomberg Green. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  7. "The Race for EV Parts Leads to Risky Deep-Ocean Mining". Yale E360. Archived from the original on 2021-08-09. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  8. "Deep-sea mining: An environmental solution or impending catastrophe?". Mongabay Environmental News. 2020-06-16. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  9. "Deep-Sea Mining Science Statement". Deep-Sea Mining Science Statement. Archived from the original on 2021-08-09. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  10. "DeepGreen hits backs at firms opposing seafloor mining". MINING.COM. 2021-04-01. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
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