The ocean floor is home to a veritable treasure trove of critical metals needed for EV batteries to power an electric revolution on the world’s roads – and one company is making big strides to bring it to surface. IPO Edge and the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association hosted a fireside chat with senior management from The Metals Co. (Nasdaq: TMC), an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules. The event featured CEO & Chairman Gerard Barron and CFO Craig Shesky, and was hosted by IPO Edge Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone and Editor-at-Large Jarrett Banks in a moderated video session lasting approximately 60 minutes including a Q&A with the audience.
Messrs. Barron and Shesky discussed:
- Technology update, including 3,000 tons of nodules collected in November, in what was the first integrated collection test in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since the 1970s
- Lessons from the collection and data on the environmental impact
- News on China, Norway, Japan, Transocean and others investing more in deep sea resources
- News that PAMCO is likely to process TMC’s nodules in Japan at an existing facility with minimal modifications
- Benchmark lifecycle analysis comparing ESG impacts from nodules vs. land (nodules far lower impact)
- Bechtel being hired to help coordinate TMC’s application to the ISA
- Capital raising needs and the Allseas $25 million unsecured credit facility
- Update on regulations
About the Speakers:
Gerard Barron is Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company and is on a mission to help wean humanity off fossil fuels and transition to a circular resource economy. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building global companies in battery technology, media and future-oriented resource development both as a chief executive officer and strategic investor. He became involved in the early strategic development and financing of DeepGreen – now known as The Metals Company – during its formation in 2011 and stepped into the role of Chairman & CEO in 2017.
Gerard is leading The Metals Company’s three-part strategy to first inject a sufficient supply of four virgin metals (Ni, Mn, Co, Cu) into the system to enable the green transition, then track and recycle the four metals that The Metals Company injects, and ultimately work through the rest of the periodic table to circularize the remaining metals. If The Metals Company succeeds, mining virgin ores – whether in land or in the ocean – will become a marginal human activity as we meet most of our metal needs by recycling a shared common stock of metals.
Craig Shesky is the CFO of The Metals Company and has over 15 years combined experience in public investing, metals research and investment banking in New York. He spent 12 years at King Street Capital Management, most recently as senior analyst in charge of recommending investments the global metals & mining space. He analyzes electrification trends, battery chemistries and the resulting impacts on supply & demand for critical base metals, with particular expertise in nickel and copper. He also has significant experience navigating complex, legal-driven investments around the world, as King Street was one of the largest creditors in over a dozen global Lehman Brothers entities. Craig worked closely with administrators, creditors, lawyers and advisors to reach settlements, form JVs and accelerate recoveries. He also spent two years as the top-tier analyst on the insurance & asset management investment banking team at Morgan Stanley.
Craig was raised in an iron mining family in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, working as a production truck driver in Cleveland-Cliffs iron mines during college summers, becoming intimately familiar with open pit operations as well as the environmental and social challenges of terrestrial mining. Craig graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.
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.
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