* The renewed agreement will see the parties further develop their Digital
Twin which will integrate multiple data streams from TMC's future production

    system and will enable 3D visualization of its deep-sea operating
    environment, providing 'eyes and ears' to the regulator and stakeholders
  * In 2022, TMC took delivery of a prototype of the Digital Twin which was
    deployed during successful test mining (https://investors.metals.co/news-
    releases/news-release-details/nori-and-allseas-lift-over-3000-tonnes-
    polymetallic-nodules) conducted by its subsidiary NORI and gathered rich
    data on the operational and environmental performance of TMC's full
    production system.
  * The Digital Twin is a core component of TMC's broader Adaptive Management
    System (https://youtu.be/XNJSmB0nuG8?si=6lNM-m3I1Nv04ofj) (AMS) which is
    designed to utilise AI and hybrid machine learning capabilities of the
    Digital Twin with expert analysis to ensure operations remain within
    environmental impact thresholds, a system with potential applications for
    resource operations at sea and on land.

NEW YORK, Sept. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TMC the metals company Inc.
(Nasdaq: TMC) (the "Company" or "TMC"), an explorer of lower-impact battery
metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, today announced that it had entered
into the next phase of its relationship with Kongsberg Digital, a Norwegian
leading software company that unlocks the value of data for customers within the
maritime, energy, renewables, and power grid industries, to further develop the
Digital Twin of the deep-sea operating environment of NORI Area D.
Following the successful trials of the prototype Digital Twin during test mining
conducted by TMC subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) in 2022, the
parties will now build upon the system's capabilities by incorporating
additional data streams which will be used to train AI models to determine key
outcomes of its full production system, including the environmental impacts of
robotic collectors operating on the seafloor.
Ahead of NORI's expected first production in Q4 2025, the extensive range of
data gathered throughout the water column by a suite of marine sensors and
ingested into the Digital Twin will enable 3D visualization of deep-sea
operations in a dynamic dashboard for review by stakeholders. The Company
believes its AI-driven virtual operating environment will enable one of the most
transparent natural resource projects in history.
Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, said: "The Digital Twin
and AMS will bring unprecedented visibility to our NORI-D nodule project,
enabling the regulator and stakeholders to see exactly what we are doing, and
when and where we're doing it. This is the world's first digital twin for subsea
nodule collection and in the future, when combined with our AMS, there is
potential for this system to enable operational optimization and transparency
across other projects, whether in the deep sea or on land. This is a mission-
critical system for us, and we could not have chosen a better, more experienced
partner than Kongsberg Digital, who proved during test mining last year that
they are well up to the task."
Andy Jones, Chief Technology Officer for The Metals Company, said: "The hybrid
machine learning capability enabled by Kongsberg Digital's Kognitwin is
important to our future deep-sea operations and environmental monitoring as it
provides us with the proven accuracy and reliability of physics-based modelling
combined with data-driven models for near real-time predictions and
optimizations. This AI-driven approach will enable continuous learning and
adaptation and enable us to test 'what-if' scenarios, allowing NORI to optimize
for efficient operations while minimizing environmental impacts."
"In the case of NORI-D there is expected to be an immense amount of live
operational sensor telemetry feeding into the system. For example, an
interactive web-based dashboard might show a mine plan of the collector vehicle
on the seabed, in conjunction with the production vessel and a Remotely Operated
Vehicle (ROV) all moving synchronously along the same paths over time. Hovering
the cursor over the collector vehicle can callout its speed, direction, depth,
efficiency metrics at any point in time. The regulator will also be able to
monitor the plume attributes in near-real time, and operators can make
adjustments based on this data and conduct simulations to maintain plume
dispersal within predetermined thresholds."
The Company plans to build out its AMS as a state-of-the-art, iterative and
predictive 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
hybrid machine learning to improve operational efficiencies and potentially
reduce environmental impacts over time.
TMC believes that the AMS that it is currently developing has potential
applications beyond the nodule collection industry and may look to explore these
in the future.
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
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metals.co&
esheet=52531270&newsitemid=20211116005307&lan=en-
US&anchor=www.metals.co&index=2&md5=778fc716dd32d1722895a75de76d66af).
Media | media@metals.co (mailto:media@metals.co)
(mailto:media@metals.co)Investors | investors@metals.co
(mailto:investors@metals.co)
About Kongsberg Digital
Kongsberg Digital, a subsidiary of KONGSBERG, is an industrial software company
shaping the future of work by changing how businesses design, operate and
maintain their assets. Businesses trust us for our innovative carbon capture and
storage technology, new energy ventures towards net zero, voyage optimisation,
emissions reduction, and technology to help balance grids and complex power
systems. We are transforming carbon-intensive industries by providing industry-
leading solutions that extract value from industrial data. We enable businesses
to connect physical assets to an industrial work surface, serving as one common
infrastructure for decision-making across the value chain.
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; 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, any of which could cause the Company's actual results
to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, that are
described in greater detail in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") on March 27, 2023, as well as in other filings the Company
may make with the SEC in the future. 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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