Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Please contact our team if you have any questions that aren’t covered here or would like to discuss your questions or feedback with Impossible Metals.
Impossible Metals Competitors
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 not requiring a dedicated surface production vessel with dynamic positioning for supporting equipment like a riser system. With the Impossible Metals approach, the transport ships pull the robots from the water without needing dynamic positioning surface vessels or ship-to-ship ore transfer. We need one ship instead of two.
The second benefit is the ability to scale the system with 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 ⅓ of the cost of a dredging tractor with a riser system for the same rate of production. 15x lower cost than the average nickel mine in 2024.
Glossary
Abyssal plains = Is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3,000 and 6,000 meters.
AUV (Autonomous underwater vehicle) = AUVs are robot submarines that can explore the ocean without a pilot or tether.
Biodiversity = biological diversity among and within plant and animal species in an environment.
CCZ (Clarion-Clipperton Zone) = A large area in the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Mexico.
Critical Minerals = Copper, nickel, and cobalt are essential components in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy applications.
DP (Dynamic Positioning) = is a computer-controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel’s position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters.
DSM (Deep Sea Minerals) = The minerals found on the deep seabed.
EEZ (exclusive economic zone) = an area of the ocean, generally extending 200 nautical miles beyond a nation’s territorial sea, within which a coastal nation has jurisdiction over both living and nonliving resources.
EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) = is a tool for decision-making. It describes the positive and negative environmental effects of a proposed action.
Eureka I, II, III = Underwater robots (AUVs’) designed by Impossible metals for selective harvesting of polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor.
EV (electric vehicle) = is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion.
ISA (International Seabed Authority) = is an autonomous international organization that organizes and controls all mineral-resources-related activities in the Area for the benefit of humankind.
Megafauna = animals of a given area that can be seen with the unaided eye.
UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) = established a comprehensive international legal framework to govern activities related to the global oceans.
USBL (ultra-short baseline) = method of underwater acoustic positioning as GPS does not work underwater.
TAM (Total addressable market) = a metric that estimates the maximum revenue potential for a product or service if it were to capture 100% of a market.
