Business Description

Overview We are a deep seabed minerals developer focused on the collection, processing and refining of polymetallic nodules found on the seafloor in international waters of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (“CCZ”), approximately 1,500 miles (or 2,400 kilometers) south-west of San Diego, California. The CCZ is a geological submarine fracture zone of abyssal plains and other formations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, with a length of around 7,240 kilometers (4,500 miles) that spans approximately 4,500,000 square kilometers (1,737,000 square miles). Polymetallic nodules are discrete rocks that sit unattached to the seafloor, occur in significant quantities in the CCZ and have high concentrations of nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese, alongside meaningful concentrations of rare earth elements (REE) in a single rock. Our mission is to build a carefully managed, shared stock of metal (a “metal commons”) that can be used, recovered and reused for generations to come. We believe significant quantities of newly mined metal are required because existing metal stocks are insufficient to meet rapidly rising demand. The four metals and REEs contained in the polymetallic nodules are on the U.S. Department of Interior’s “2025 List of Critical Minerals, with end-uses in strategic sectors including semiconductors and AI data centers, steel manufacturing, the defense and marine industrial base. Nickel was included on the list of 13 minerals selected by the U.S. Department of War in March 2026 for targeted procurement efforts through the Defense Industrial Base Consortium. Our resource definition work to date shows that nodules in our contract areas represent the world’s largest estimated undeveloped resource of several of these critical metals. If we are able to collect polymetallic nodules from the seafloor on a commercial scale, we plan to use such nodules to initially produce nickel-, cobalt- and copper-bearing intermediate and metal cathode products as well as a manganese silicate product of approximately 40% manganese comparable to medium-grade manganese ore. Once in production, we may explore expanding into other product formats including silicomanganese alloy, battery-grade sulfates and precursor Cathode Active Materials (pCAM), as well as extracting REEs contained in nodules. We are now in the development stage following the release of the results of a pre-feasibility study on one of our development areas in a report titled S-K 1300 Prefeasibility Study for NORI Area D: Technical Report Summary , dated August 4, 2025, prepared by AMC Consultants Pty Lt. and other qualified persons (the “NORI-D PFS”), which declared the world’s first mineral reserves for a seafloor polymetallic nodule project demonstrating the project’s economic viability. We also recently released an initial assessment of our other development areas in a report titled S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary—Initial Assessment of TOML and NORI Properties, Clarion-Clipperton Zone , dated August 4, 2025, prepared by AMC Consultants Pty Lt. and other qualified persons (the “TOML and NORI IA” together with the NORI-D PFS, the “Technical Reports”). We have yet to obtain a commercial recovery permit or other related offshore and onshore permits from the regulators. Additionally, we do not yet hold the environmental or other permits required to construct and operate commercial-scale polymetallic nodule processing and refining facilities on land. Two parallel regulatory regimes exist to regulate deep seabed exploration and extraction activities in the high seas. The United States adopted the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (“DSHMRA”), a U.S. domestic statute administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) to regulate deep-sea mining activities of its citizens in the high seas. NOAA implemented regulations for exploration licenses in 1981 and for commercial recovery permits in 1989 and amended these regulations introducing a consolidated exploration license and commercial recovery permit application process in 2026. In parallel, the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”), comprised today of 171 countries and the European Union was established in 1994, pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) to regulate deep seabed exploration and exploitation activities of the nationals of Member States.…