Innovative agreement will have union workers processing critical minerals from seafloor nodules for production of electric car batteries

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) and The Metals Company (TMC) announced that they have entered into a labor neutrality agreement to bolster the critical mineral supply chain and to lay the groundwork for sustainable production of electric car batteries while creating a path to more good union jobs in the United States.

TMC will process and eventually recycle key battery metals responsibly collected from polymetallic nodules that lay unattached on the seafloor in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of North America. Battery metals, many of which are included on the US critical mineral list, are an essential ingredient to decarbonization and without secure supply and processing capabilities, the American automotive industry and American jobs underpinning the clean energy transition remain vulnerable.

Building large-scale metals processing infrastructure and mineral supply chains in the United States will enhance national and economic security and help ensure TMC’s processing operations create good-paying U.S. jobs.

UAW President Ray Curry stated, “UAW members helped create America’s middle class by bargaining agreements that lifted not only their standard of living, but those in entire sectors of our economy.” He adds, “we have insisted that the transition to electric vehicles must not come at the expense of autoworkers, their families, and communities. We commend TMC for showing companies that the way forward should include respect for the rights of their future workforce to join together and collectively bargain for good wages, benefits, and working conditions.”

UAW believes that the transition to EVs demands the creation of a strong US supply chain not only for batteries but also the critical metals which power those batteries.

TMC Chairman and CEO Gerard Barron commented: “We are pleased to be working hand in hand with such a forward-thinking organization as the UAW to enable large-scale domestic metal processing and refining facilities in the United States.?The UAW has nearly a century of collective bargaining experience in the automotive industry and has earned a reputation for protecting workers, protecting the environment, and fighting for justice. From making the very first contribution to set up Earth Day to its active position in the Civil Rights Movement, the UAW has an impressive record of leadership on social and environmental issues.”

Nasdaq-listed TMC is the only nodule exploration contract holder to have defined its metal resources per US SEC standards, identifying enough nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese in situ in two of the Company’s three exploration areas to electrify 280 million electric vehicles, equivalent to the entire US passenger fleet. Mining.com has ranked TMC’s NORI and TOML contract areas as the #1 and #2 largest undeveloped nickel projects in the world, representing the largest potential alternative to the supply of nickel which is currently dominated by Russian- and Chinese-funded operations. Further, peer-reviewed studies suggest that the responsible collection of polymetallic nodules, which unlike other mineral extraction endeavors, requires no blasting, no drilling, no digging and no forced or child labor, can significantly compress the planetary impacts of metal production including a significant reduction in carbon impacts, solid waste, and the elimination of toxic tailings. The Company is aiming to locate a large-scale processing facility producing battery materials — nickel and cobalt sulfate and copper cathode — in the United States to support a localized battery supply chain.

For years UAW has highlighted the supply chain vulnerabilities for battery metals and semiconductors which severely affect the US auto industry. As metal refining, EV battery material and cell production, and recycling centers that will power the domestic electric automotive industry expand, the UAW maintains the work must be done by workers’ who collectively bargain.

UAW will help ensure that the highly skilled labor necessary to support this sustainable vision has an opportunity to express their voice in the workplace.?TMC in turn acknowledges that future processing employees will have the freedom to choose union representation, and it embraces expeditious procedures to determine majority status.? 

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.

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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 location of any processing facilities, as well as the design, 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 collection, development and processing polymetallic nodules; risks associated with TMC’s limited operating history; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; 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 indicated from time to time in the Company’s Form 10K, dated and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 25, 2022 , including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in TMC’s other future filings with the SEC. 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.