The Metals Company Enters Agreement with Kongsberg Digital to Develop Digital Twin of Deep-Sea Operating Environment Ahead of Polymetallic Nodule Collection System Test
November 16 2021 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
- The companies are focused on developing the world’s first
digital twin for subsea nodule collection, a core component of a
broader Adaptive Management System (AMS) designed to enable sub-sea
operations within targeted environmental impact thresholds
- The planned AMS will generate data feeds from environmental and
operating sensors, use machine learning to make environmental
impact predictions and include an environmental dashboard for
monitoring and reporting impacts
- A world-class provider of cloud services and digital solutions
to the energy and maritime industries, Kongsberg Digital will adapt
and connect its proven technology with The Metals Company’s nodule
collection and environmental monitoring and data systems to enable
safe and robust deep-sea operations
The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC) (the “Company” or “TMC”) today
entered into an agreement with Kongsberg Digital, a leading
provider of high-technology systems and solutions for the oil and
gas, merchant marine, defense and aerospace industries. In advance
of TMC’s initial nodule collector drive test in the Atlantic Ocean
planned for early next year and followed by full pilot collection
system trials in the Pacific Ocean later in 2022, the parties
intend to create a digital twin to enable 3D visualization of
deep-sea operations in a dynamic dashboard for review by various
stakeholders. The digital twin will integrate vessel information
from the surface support vessel Hidden Gem with data collected from
the pilot nodule collector robot and riser system, as well as data
collected by independent scientists aboard a test monitoring
vessel.
Once completed and validated, the digital twin will be a core
component of TMC’s future Adaptive Management System [Watch Video].
The Company plans to build out its AMS as an iterative and
predictive state-of-the-art system that will use environmental and
operational data to enable TMC to keep its deep-sea activities
within ecological thresholds expected to be set by the
International Seabed Authority. The AMS will draw on expert opinion
and machine learning to improve operational efficiencies and reduce
the uncertainty of the environmental impact over time.
Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, said:
“Polymetallic nodules sit on the seafloor in complete darkness at
4-km depths but we plan to collect them in clear sight and in a
manner that is accessible and accountable to the regulator and
stakeholders from anywhere in the world. The Digital Twin will give
us visibility — that’s the first critical step. From there, we will
keep gathering data, learning, predicting, and adapting our
operations with environmental protection and operational efficiency
in mind. This is a mission-critical system for us, and we could not
have chosen a better, more experienced partner than Kongsberg
Digital.”
“We are excited to partner with TMC in what will be the world’s
first operational and environmental industrial work surface for
deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection,” said Hege Skryseth,
President of Kongsberg Digital and EVP KONGSBERG. “With the
successful rollout of Kongsberg Digital’s ‘Kognitwin’ in the energy
industry, we are delighted to now be working with TMC to deliver a
digital twin solution designed to help simulate and manage the
deep-sea nodule collection process within regulatory requirements.
Collaborating and innovating to deliver solutions to enable a more
sustainable operation for producing metals — that are critical to
power economic growth — is an exciting opportunity.”
Upon successful completion of the initial work under the
agreement, TMC and Kongsberg Digital may choose to enter into a
broader agreement to complete the development of systems and
software to support the operation of the Digital Twin.
Through its strategic partnership with Allseas, TMC is
developing a deep-sea nodule collection system to responsibly
recover polymetallic nodules from the seafloor and transfer them to
the surface for transportation to an onshore processing plant.
Across two contract areas held by its subsidiaries, the Company has
identified 1.6 billion tonnes of nodules, containing in situ
resources of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese equivalent to the
requirements of 280 million electric vehicles – about the size of
the entire US passenger vehicle fleet.
About The Metals Company
The Metals Company is an explorer of lower-impact battery metals
from seafloor polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission: (1) supply
metals for the clean energy transition with the least possible
negative environmental and social impact and (2) accelerate the
transition to a circular metal economy. The company through its
subsidiaries holds exploration and commercial rights to three
polymetallic nodule contract areas in the Clarion Clipperton Zone
of the Pacific Ocean regulated by the International Seabed
Authority and sponsored by the governments of Nauru, Kiribati and
the Kingdom of Tonga. More information about The Metals Company is
available at www.metals.co.
About Kongsberg Digital
Kongsberg Digital, a subsidiary of KONGSBERG, is a provider of
next-generation software and digital solutions, to customers within
maritime, oil and gas, and renewables and utilities. The company
consists of more than 500 software experts with leading competence
within the internet of things, smart data, artificial intelligence,
maritime simulation, automation and autonomous operations.
Kongsberg Digital is the group-wide center of digital expertise for
the KONGSBERG group.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release are not historical
facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe
harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied
by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,”
“predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” and
similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or
trends or that are not statements of historical matters. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release include,
without limitation, statements regarding the development, use and
accuracy of any technology developed by TMC and its partners,
agents and/or service providers to support its operations. These
forward-looking statements involve significant risks and
uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ
materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Most of these factors are outside TMC’s control and are difficult
to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but
are not limited to: regulatory uncertainties and the impact of
government regulation and political instability on TMC’s resource
activities; changes to any of the laws, rules, regulations or
policies to which TMC is subject; the impact of extensive and
costly environmental requirements on TMC’s operations;
environmental liabilities; the impact of polymetallic nodule
collection on biodiversity in the Clarion Clipperton Zone and
recovery rates of impacted ecosystems; TMC’s ability to develop
minerals in sufficient grade or quantities to justify commercial
operations; the lack of development of seafloor polymetallic nodule
deposit; uncertainty in the estimates for mineral resource
calculations from certain contract areas and for the grade and
quality of polymetallic nodule deposits; risks associated with
natural hazards; uncertainty with respect to the specialized
treatment and processing of polymetallic nodules that TMC may
recover; risks associated with collective, development and
processing operations; fluctuations in transportation costs;
testing and manufacturing of equipment, including software and
hardware needed to support the collection, transport and processing
of nodules, including the Digital Twin and the AMS; risks
associated with TMC’s limited operating history; the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic; risks associated with TMC’s intellectual
property and the validity, use and ownership of any new technology
or intellectual property subsisting therein; and other risks and
uncertainties indicated from time to time in the prospectus, dated
and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on
October 22, 2021, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and
in TMC’s other future filings with the SEC. TMC cautions that the
foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. TMC cautions readers
not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date made. TMC does not undertake or
accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect
any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions,
or circumstances on which any such statement is based except as
required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211116005307/en/
Media | media@metals.co Investors | investors@metals.co Dan
Gagnier | Gagnier Communications | tmc@gagnierfc.com
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