FAQs Archive

Q: I.8 How does the cost of Impossible Metals technology compare to dredging technology?

We expect Impossible Metals’ approach to be the lowest-cost method for deep-sea mining. A fleet of robots has three primary economic benefits compared to dredge and riser-based systems. The first is the improved economics for a fully operating system. This is achieved through reduced capital expenses (CapEx) by eliminating the need for a dedicated surface production vessel to support equipment such as a riser system. With the Impossible Metals approach, the transport ships pull the robots from the water, collecting the ore without needing ship-to-ship ore transfer. The second benefit is the ability to scale the system through the incremental addition of CapEx. A small-scale operation can become operational with a relatively modest initial capital investment. As additional capital is invested, the fleet of robots and, thus, the material throughput can be scaled. The third economic benefit is the lack of single points of failure. While there are increased points of failure with the fleet of robots, there are no single points of failure, ensuring that the selective harvesting architecture remains operational through these failures. We estimate our costs for a production-scale operation will be about ¼ less costly than the cost of a dredging tractor with a riser system for the same rate of production.

Q: I.7 How many days a year do you expect to be collecting?

As we do not have any tethers and have a smart launch and recovery system, we can operate in a much wider range of sea states. V6 of our economic model assumes we can operate for 325 days a year.

Q: I.6 How can you scale to millions of tons of nodules?

Each Eureka IV robot has approximately 12 arms with a 12-metric-ton payload. The Eureka IV can be reused every 3 hours. So, in 24 hours, 8 missions can be completed, delivering 8 * 12 = 96 metric tons per 24 hours. A fleet of 200 Eureka IV robots can deliver 19,200 metric tons per 24 hours using 4 vessels, which translates to 6 million metric tons per year, assuming ~312 production days a year. (Assuming around 53 days a year when a weather hold is in operation.)

Q: I.5 How long does each collection mission take?

Eureka III delivers four dry metric tons of nodules every 4 hours. Eureka III delivers 4 dry metric tons. Each Eureka IV will deliver 12 metric tons. The breakdown of the mission time for Eureka III is as follows: Launch Eureka from the transport vessel to the ocean: 2 minutes Dive Eureka to the seabed at 5km depth: 70 minutes (~1.2 meters per second) Harvest nodules to fill Eureka payload: 60 minutes Rise Eureka up the 5km water column: 70 minutes (~1.2 meters per second) Recovery of Eureka from the ocean to the transport vessel using our Smart Launch and Recovery System (SLARS): 5 minutes In parallel on the vessel: 25 minutes a. Unload the Eureka payload of nodules to the transport vessel b. Swap the Eureka battery for a fully charged new battery pack c. Fill the buoyancy tanks for the next mission d. Eureka vehicle maintenance e. Download of mission data f. Upload of the next mission Total = 232 minutes or ~4 hours. So in 24 hours, 6 missions can be executed per Eureka III. Please also see Question I.1 How do you scale to high production rates?

G.8 How do you compare to The Metals Company (TMC)?

I.9 How do you compare on scaling with your competitors?

I.8 How does the cost of Impossible Metals technology compare to dredging technology?

I.7 How many days a year do you expect to be collecting?

I.6 How can you scale to millions of tons of nodules?

I.5 How long does each collection mission take?

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