TMC the metals company Inc. (NASDAQ:TMC) shares climbed 6.7% in premarket trading on Monday after the company disclosed a commercial agreement with Allseas to develop and operate its inaugural commercial nodule collection system.
Under the terms of the agreement, Allseas will handle the development, commissioning and operation of a system designed with a nameplate production capacity of 3.0 million wet tonnes per annum. The planned configuration calls for two collector vehicles capable of working at depths beyond four kilometers, with the surface vessel Hidden Gem designated to receive the recovered nodules.
Allseas is expected to fund a substantial portion of the development costs. Those costs will be recoverable through revenues generated from production under the arrangement. The two companies first formed a Strategic Alliance Agreement in 2019 and have since worked together to advance commercial nodule recovery operations.
Concept and basic engineering work for important system elements - including the riser, Launch and Recovery Systems, and the umbilical - have been completed. Tendering and vendor engagement are due to begin shortly, and TMC said subcontract awards are expected by the end of the third quarter of 2026. The company anticipates the system will enter commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2027.
TMC said the offshore production system mirrors the operating configuration set out in its SEC-compliant S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary of Preliminary Feasibility Study released in August 2025. Once recovered, nodules will be transferred at sea to bulk carriers and shipped to designated ports for processing.
Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, said the agreement "establishes a clear commercial framework for how we complete the development and commissioning of our first commercial scale nodule recovery system and start offshore nodule recovery operations."
The announced system builds on a 2022 pilot nodule recovery test in which 3,000 tonnes of nodules were lifted to the surface from the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean.
Below are concise takeaways, potential sector impacts, and the principal uncertainties reflected in the company’s disclosure.