"With the pilot system ready and undergoing wet tests, we are planning ahead for the next phase: upgrade and first small-scale commercial operations, maybe even acquiring a second vessel," Edward Heerema, founder of Allseas, said. 

TMC touts the project as the world's first commercial system capable of undertaking the deep-sea collection of the nodules and is targeting a production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per annum. 

"The pilot collection system - which includes the production vessel Hidden Gem on the surface, a collector robot on the seafloor and a riser that lifts nodules from the seafloor to the surface - is currently undergoing wet testing by Allseas in the Atlantic Ocean," The Metals Company said. 

Allseas and TMC's subsidiary NORI have been working on the pilot since 2019. Part of the operation sees the nodules transported to shore for processing using TMC's "near-zero" solid waste flowsheet into battery metal precursor materials and manganese silicate product. The intention is to use this in manganese alloy production for the steel industry. 

TMC chairman and CEO Gerard Barron said Allseas has flagged its intention to finance 50% of the costs of developing the so-called Project Zero System and working out potential nodule collection and transhipment fees. 

"Even at the estimated EUR150 per wet tonne of nodules, we expect to have a meaningful margin left for logistics and processing. If Allseas scales production from the initial capacity, we expect per tonne costs to go down further," Barron said. 

The Metals Company traded at US$2.71 per share on March 17 and had a market capitalisation of $610.45 million.