Mentioned:
One of the largest metal producers in the world is making a bet on something new: deep sea mining. But, why?
What’s happening:
- The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) has landed a new $85.2M USD strategic investment from Korea Zinc
By the numbers:
- Korea Zinc purchased 19.6M common shares of The Metals Company at $4.34USD per share
- The new financing also gives Korea Zinc 6.9M warrants priced at $7.00 USD per share and the right to participate in future equity financing rounds
Why it matters:
- This is the first time ever that Korea Zinc has made a strategic investment into a deep sea mining company
Going deeper:
- Korea Zinc is one of the largest non-ferrous metal smelting companies in the world and processes more than a million tonnes of zinc, lead, copper, cobalt and other metals annually
- Korea Zinc and The Metals Company have publicly stated that they are closely collaborating on new ways to advance the development of critical minerals from the deep seabed and that Korea Zinc has begun receiving bulk samples of nodule materials from The Metals Company to begin testing processing and refining pathways
- The Metals Company has been aggressively raising capital lately to fuel their deep sea mining exploration, including just recently raising $37M USD in a equity financing round led by Hess Capital founder Michael Hess and entrepreneur Brian Paes-Braga
