Deep sea miner insists it has enough cash despite missing $200m – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – November 22, 2021)

https://www.ft.com/

The Metals Company has enough cash to complete the “important work” needed to secure a permit to mine deep in the Pacific Ocean, according to its executive chair, despite an investor’s failure to hand it an agreed $200m in funding.

Gerard Barron said the deep-sea miner could finance its operations until the third quarter of 2023, when it expects to apply for a licence to collect so-called nodules, or rocks, containing energy transition metals such as nickel and copper from the seabed.

Rules to allow deep-sea mining in international waters have yet to be agreed by the UN-backed International Seabed Authority, although a regulatory framework to allow permit applications is expected in July 2023.

“On the financing side, do I wish I had another $200m in the bank? Of course. But I’m not overly concerned about it because . . . I’ve got enough money to complete the important work,” he told the Financial Times.

For the rest of this article: https://www.ft.com/content/69a5ad45-983c-4c59-a56b-ecda90624a56