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So this is an AD for liquid trying to engagement farm on fear mongering?

$TMC Reuters Reported That DOE Is Awarding $500M for US Battery Materials Processing yesterday and Explicitly Mentioned Deep Sea Nodules as Potential Future Feedstock for a $100M Cobalt Refinery. TMC Presented Its Battery Grade Nodule Results and highlighted it Today. Hours Later TMC Rallied on Heavy Volume, Suggesting Institutional Accumulation on Alpha? with Brownsville Funding also in play. Yesterday Reuters reported that the US Department of Energy is awarding $500M across 7 domestic critical mineral and battery material projects. One award immediately stood out to me: $100M for Jervois to build a US cobalt refinery. DOE Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson said the facility could process: Deep sea nodules. The official DOE funding program is: DE-FOA-0003585 Battery Materials Processing & Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants. Total funding: $500M One of the actual funding categories: Domestic Critical Minerals Processing from Raw Feedstocks. The purpose is to build US demonstration/commercial scale facilities that process critical minerals into materials needed for batteries and other strategic uses. Again, keyword was processing. Now lets go back to Trumps deep seabed mining Executive Order. This is where things get much more interesting. Executive Order 14285, signed April 24, specifically directed DOE and the Department of Defense to support domestic processing capabilities for seabed minerals. And it didnt stop there. Section 3(d)(ii) specifically directed them to explore the use of: Grants, Loans, Defense Production Act authorities, Procurement AND Other financing authorities for domestic seabed mineral processing. Thats an actual White House Executive Order. This is not speculation, this is a fact. Now compare that with what TMC told us just last week. TMC: “The Company is actively engaged in funding processes with multiple U.S. agencies named in President Trump’s Executive Order 14285 regarding plans to build nodule processing and refining capacity in the United States.” Gerard also reiterated: Future domestic onshore capital spending is contingent on a MAJORITY of the funding coming from US government sources. And: “Advanced funding processes” are currently in progress with multiple US agencies. So we already know there are confidential financing processes underway. We just dont know the agencies, structures or dollar amounts yet. And where would that US processing/refining capacity potentially be built? Brownsville, Texas. TMC is advancing plans with Mariana Minerals for what it calls Nodule City at the Port of Brownsville. TMC currently has an exclusive right of negotiation over approximately 1,466 acres. The company is evaluating a potential: - 12Mtpa integrated US nodule processing and refining industry park. - Pre feasibility work is nearing completion. - Feasibility level work on the first smelting stage is already underway. No final investment decision has been made. And importantly: TMC has repeatedly said the build remains contingent on US government financial support. Now add this weeks metallurgy presentation. TMC and Kingston Process Metallurgy presented their successful conversion of nodule derived manganese silicate into: High purity, battery grade manganese sulfate. TMC’s SEC filings already say its nodule processing flowsheet is expected to form the basis of its future onshore processing facilities. And over time TMC has discussed potentially expanding the products from that flowsheet into: Cobalt sulfate Nickel sulfate Manganese sulfate Copper products Silicomanganese And eventually even precursor cathode active materials. And manganese sulfate puts another product directly into the battery materials category. Then DOE announces its $500M battery materials processing awards. And gives: $100M to build a domestic COBALT refinery. One of TMC’s four main metals. Then a senior DOE official specifically says that refinery could eventually process: Deep sea nodules. Thats the part I keep coming back to. Because Trump’s EO specifically instructed DOE to support US seabed mineral processing. TMC is trying to build US seabed mineral processing. And now DOE is putting $100M behind a domestic cobalt refinery while publicly identifying deep sea nodules as a potential future feedstock. The government financing mechanism is there. The domestic processing priority is there. And now the deep sea nodule reference is there too. I think this is where Brownsville starts becoming more interesting to the market. TLDR: DOE is putting $500M into US critical mineral and battery material processing. A $100M cobalt refinery award comes with an unusually specific comment from a senior DOE official: It could eventually process deep sea nodules. Trump’s EO already specifically directed DOE and Defense to explore grants, loans, DPA and other financing tools for domestic seabed mineral processing. Meanwhile TMC says its proposed Brownsville nodule processing/refining hub is contingent on majority US government funding and that advanced confidential funding processes with multiple agencies named in that exact Executive Order are already underway. And in the same week TMC is presenting another successfully demonstrated battery grade product from its nodule processing pathway. This tweet was pure speculation. Im connecting public dots here. No filing OR public info to confirm institutions drove todays move or that Brownsville funding is secured.

$TMC Presents Its Latest Processing Results to the Metallurgy Industry: This week TMC’s Matt Boulby and Kingston Process Metallurgy’s James McNeice presented the results of TMC’s manganese processing work at COM 2026 in Calgary. The work successfully converted nodule derived manganese silicate into high purity, battery grade manganese sulfate. Summarized Recap: 1) Manganese was already a product for TMC, not a waste stream. When TMC processes nodules, the first major processing stage separates them into: A high grade nickel copper cobalt alloy/matte AND A manganese silicate product containing roughly 40% manganese. That manganese silicate can already be used as feedstock to produce silicomanganese alloy for steelmaking. Now TMC has demonstrated another potential route: Take that same nodule derived manganese silicate and convert it into high purity manganese sulfate for batteries. So the manganese doesnt have just one potential end market anymore. Steelmaking through manganese silicate/silicomanganese. OR Battery materials through high purity manganese sulfate. Thats product optionality. 2) The upstream manganese processing has already been demonstrated at much larger scale. During PAMCO’s 2,000 tonne nodule processing campaign in Japan, PAMCO successfully smelted 450 tonnes of calcine into: 35 tonnes of NiCuCo alloy AND 320 tonnes of manganese silicate. So producing the manganese silicate itself isnt just a small laboratory concept. The important distinction is that converting that manganese silicate into high purity manganese sulfate has so far been demonstrated at bench scale. Commercial scale up still has to be proven. 3) This builds on TMC’s previous work showing that nodules can be converted into multiple high value products. TMC has already demonstrated routes to produce: NiCuCo alloy/matte Battery grade nickel sulfate Battery grade cobalt sulfate Copper cathode Manganese silicate for steelmaking And now high purity manganese sulfate for batteries. TMC previously reported >99% extraction of nickel, cobalt and copper from nodule derived matte during its hydrometallurgical testing. Adding manganese sulfate means TMC has now demonstrated a pathway to produce nickel, cobalt AND manganese in sulfate form. Those are the key metal feedstocks used in NMC type precursor cathode active materials. 4) The US manganese angle is probably the most important part. According to the USGS: The United States was 100% net import reliant for manganese content in 2025. The US has not produced manganese ore containing 20%+ manganese domestically since 1970. Manganese is also officially on the US Critical Minerals List. So while nickel, cobalt and copper usually get most of the attention around TMC, manganese could become strategically very important. 5) And manganese is by FAR the largest contained metal in TMC’s current USA-A + USA-B resource estimate. TMC’s latest filing estimates those mineral resources contain approximately: 345M tonnes manganese 15.5M tonnes nickel 12.8M tonnes copper 2.0M tonnes cobalt Important distinction: those are estimated contained metals within measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources, not 345M tonnes of manganese reserves. But it shows the scale of the manganese opportunity. 6) This could also matter for Brownsville. TMC and Mariana Minerals are currently working toward a potential integrated US nodule processing and refining industry park in Brownsville, Texas. A processing system that can potentially take the same nodule feedstock and produce multiple different product formats gives TMC more flexibility around what ultimately gets produced in the US. Steel products. Battery materials. Nickel/cobalt/copper products. Potentially manganese sulfate. The exact commercial configuration hasnt been finalized and TMC has not yet demonstrated commercial scale manganese sulfate production. But every additional product pathway potentially increases what can be extracted from the same nodule resource. 7) The bigger story is that TMC continues demonstrating that polymetallic nodules are not a single product ore. One nodule contains nickel, copper, cobalt and a very large amount of manganese. And TMC is building processing routes that can potentially turn those metals into different products depending on what industry needs them. Manganese for steel. Manganese for batteries. Nickel and cobalt for batteries/industry. Copper for electrification and infrastructure. All from the same nodule feedstock. And in manganese specifically, this comes at a time when the US remains 100% net import reliant. TLDR: $TMC has demonstrated that the manganese silicate produced from its nodules doesnt have to be limited to steelmaking. It can also be converted into high purity, battery grade manganese sulfate. That potentially gives TMC two major markets for the manganese stream from the same resource: steel AND batteries. With ~345M tonnes of estimated contained manganese across TMC’s current USA-A/USA-B mineral resources, and the US currently 100% net import reliant for manganese content, I dont think the market has even begun to fairly reprice the manganese opportunity.

$TMC USA-A Permitting Update: TLDR: Another major US permitting milestone is now complete. NOAA has formally published TMC’s fully compliant USA-A application, starting the public comment period that management says is a prerequisite to certification. The application covers ~65,000 km² containing 619Mt of estimated nodules + ~200Mt potential upside, while the separate USA-B area contains another ~1.02Bt. Comments close Oct. 19, USA-A then moves toward certification/environmental review, and USA-B is already in the EIS process. NOAA has officially published TMC USA’s consolidated USA-A application in the Federal Register. This is TMC’s main application for both an exploration license AND commercial recovery permit under the US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act. Importantly, NOAA states that the application is fully compliant with the applicable information requirements. (Federal Register⁠) This isnt the final permit yet, but it moves USA-A into the next formal stage of the US permitting process. The public comment clock has now officially started. Comments are open until October 19, 2026, and NOAA will hold a virtual public hearing on October 13. (Federal Register⁠) Gerard Barron: “Publication of our consolidated application in the Federal Register is an important milestone on the permitting path under DSHMRA as it starts the clock on the public comment period that NOAA views as a prerequisite to certification.” Thats the important part here. The public comment period isnt just another administrative announcement. Management says NOAA views completion of this process as a prerequisite to certification of the application. The scale of USA-A is much larger than the original proposed commercial recovery area. The consolidated application expands the proposed commercial recovery area from roughly 25,000 km² to 65,000 km². That area contains an estimated: 619 million tonnes of wet polymetallic nodules Plus potential exploration upside of another: ~200 million tonnes. So we are potentially talking about ~819Mt of nodules within USA-A alone if that additional exploration upside is ultimately established. And remember, USA-B is separate. USA-B covers another ~122,000 km² and contains an estimated 1.02 billion tonnes of nodules. The sequence from here is becoming clearer. USA-A has already received NOAA’s full compliance determination. Now: Federal Register publication/public comment → Certification → Environmental review/draft EIS → Final NOAA determination on the exploration license + commercial recovery permit and associated terms. Management said on the Q2 call that certification was expected around October 2026 after the administrative delay. The comment period now ends October 19. So the timeline is lining up closely with what management just told us. This also matters because USA-A is the first consolidated application of its kind under NOAA’s updated framework. Instead of completing exploration licensing and then beginning a separate commercial recovery permitting process, TMC is pursuing both through the consolidated pathway. NOAA changed its regulations specifically to allow applicants with sufficient exploration data and expertise to pursue this more efficient process. TMC has spent more than a decade building the environmental, engineering and resource dataset supporting this application. Thats where the years of work start to matter. And USA-A isnt moving in isolation. Just two days ago NOAA also published its Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for TMC’s USA-B exploration application. USA-B was already certified in May and is now moving through formal environmental review. (Stock Titan⁠) So both US applications are now moving simultaneously: USA-A: consolidated exploration + commercial recovery pathway. USA-B: exploration pathway with EIS preparation underway.

This is partly why the critical minerals sector got hit today, especially $TMC. Xi flying in for a one day White House meeting with Trump on the 24th (first state visit in 11 years). Agenda covers trade, Taiwan, AI, and the Iran/Hormuz situation. Market was treating that as potential deal talk, so the short term push for mineral independence could getting dialed back a bit??(which I don’t believe will happen) On top of the high beta sector already selling off from the war escalation. Even if a critical minerals deal does come through, the national security need for these metals does not change. The United States still requires secure, independent supply of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese. That strategic requirement does not disappear with a handshake.

$TMC Q2 Call Updates: 1) TMC is actively in confidential funding processes with multiple US government agencies named in Trump’s executive order. While those discussions remain confidential, management said it does not currently intend to pursue other capital market transactions until further public updates. CEO Gerard Barron: “The company does not currently intend to pursue other capital market transactions until such time as further updates are publicly released.” What that means: no equity offering, follow on, ATM, convertible, or equivalent capital markets raise is currently planned before we hear more on the government funding process. 2) Allseas is moving the first commercial collection system into procurement now, with fabrication expected to begin in Q4 2026. Installation and commissioning still targeting Q4 2027. Initial capacity 3Mtpa. 3 million wet tonnes of nodules per year. Thats the starting point with two collectors on the Hidden Gem. If processed in the US, that single system alone could cover roughly a quarter to a third of current American nickel and cobalt demand. Allseas is funding a meaningful portion of the preproduction costs, recoverable from production revenues. Alignment is strong. Allseas exclusivity remains an important part of the setup. Gerard confirmed the offshore mining arrangement is exclusive. Allseas could only offer another system elsewhere if it first offered that system to TMC and TMC declined. Gerard said the likelihood of that happening is very low because TMC wants multiple systems in the water. 3) Mariana Minerals is becoming a major execution partner. Theyre helping advance permitting, construction, processing, automation and plant design at Nodule City, Brownsville. The Prefeasibility for a potential 12 Mtpa industry park is nearing completion. Modest spend underway for the work that unlocks potential government support. Feasibility level work on the first smelting stage is underway with Mariana Minerals (the software/automation heavy processing partner that just raised $310M). TMC has an exclusive right of negotiation over the Brownsville site. The area being evaluated is 1,466 acres, and No final investment decision has been made, and any future capital commitment remains contingent on US government support. 4) Management is looking out for shareholders and doing what it can to avoid unnecessary dilution. TMC decided not to extend the September 2026 SPAC warrants. The 15M public warrants have an $11.50 strike, but extending them would also require extending 9.5M private warrants that can be exercised cashlessly. CFO Craig Shesky also noted that extending them would require extending the private warrants, which are: “unlikely to result in any incremental cash proceeds to the company while still diluting existing shareholders.” So management chose to let the warrants expire rather than accept dilution that may bring little additional cash. The read through is pretty clear: management appears confident enough in the upcoming catalysts to wait rather than raise/dilute around today’s valuation. If they believed $11.50 was as good as it gets, taking the cash would have been the easier decision. Why accept unnecessary dilution around an $11.50 strike when management says the stock is undervalued and expects major catalysts ahead and believes the equity should be valued materially higher? 5) New mutual services agreement with Eco Minerals, another US company pursuing its own NOAA application. Eco can provide TMC vessels, AUVs, marine survey capacity and offshore services at preferential pricing. TMC provides ~15 years of resource definition, environmental and permitting expertise. A joint offshore campaign is possible later this year to gather more data and potentially move additional USA-A tonnage toward reserves. 6) Permitting continues moving under the US pathway. USA-A Federal Register publication/public comment is imminent. Certification is now expected in October 2026 due to an administrative delay, not an issue with the application. A Q1 2027 permit is no longer expected, but management still expects it well ahead of the Q4 2027 vessel commissioning target. USA-B, covering ~122,000 km², is also moving into formal EIS review. 7) Resource economics remain unchanged. $5.5B PFS NPV + $18.1B initial assessment = $23.6B combined stated NPV. Across both projects, the studies point to roughly $369B in undiscounted revenue and >$200B in EBITDA. Management directly acknowledged the stock has lagged the operational progress and resource value. Craig Shesky: “Our market cap is undervalued relative to the resource itself by any reasonable peer based metric.” 8) TMC’s scientific/environmental dataset continues to be a major part of the moat. NORI has completed: 22 offshore research campaigns 959 research days at sea More than 1 petabyte of data 41 peer-reviewed papers That work supports permitting, environmental review and TMC’s ability to move resource categories toward reserves. 9) US government support for the broader critical minerals strategy remains strong. Gerard attended the Aug. 7 State Department critical minerals roundtable alongside senior Trump administration officials. Trump again reiterated support for deep seabed mining. Important distinction: no direct nodule collection funding was announced at that event. TMC’s own government funding processes remain separate and confidential. 10) TMC is building beyond just one vessel and one processing plant. Management is working across US shipbuilding, marine logistics, autonomous vessels, environmental monitoring, processing, refining and rare earth development. The goal is an integrated American deep seabed critical mineral supply chain from collection all the way through delivery of finished metal products. 11) TMC is keeping PAMCO Japan as a processing fallback while Brownsville advances. Management said they’re maintaining the partnership with PAMCO specifically to preserve processing optionality, so the US build is the preferred path without leaving TMC dependent on a single route. So TMC keeps an existing processing route available while working toward domestic US processing. 12) Offshore logistics are also being optimized. A typical shipment would carry ~60,000 tonnes of nodules from the CCZ to Brownsville. The Panama Canal is the base case, but TMC is also studying a Cape Horn route as autonomous vessels become more practical. They’re also integrating USV/AUV technology for logistics, environmental monitoring, situational awareness and continued resource definition. 13) Failed attempt against the U.S. pathway: China, Russia and Greenpeace supported an effort seeking an ITLOS advisory opinion targeting seabed mining outside the UNCLOS/ISA framework. “The effort failed and received significant pushback from member states across Europe, Asia and the Pacific.” 14) TMC also got a favorable outcome on the ISA side. The ITLOS Seabed Disputes Chamber unanimously prescribed provisional measures protecting NORI and TOML rights to due process and fair treatment in their disputes with the ISA. Days later, the ISA Council approved a 5 year extension of NORI’s exploration contract by consensus. 15) Liquidity remains solid. TMC ended Q2 with $143M of liquidity, including $44M of undrawn credit capacity. Management expects cash on hand to cover working capital and capex commitments for at least the next 12 months. A large portion of the Allseas liabilities are also deferred until production. TLDR(Q2 was about exectution) Government funding talks are active, and management currently doesnt plan on doing any offerings at all. Allseas is moving into procurement while funding a meaningful portion of preproduction costs, with the first 3Mtpa system alone potentially covering 25-33% of current US nickel/cobalt demand. Brownsville is advancing, Q4 2027 commissioning remains intact, liquidity is solid, management is protecting shareholders from unnecessary dilution, and the stated $23.6B NPV remains unchanged.

I can’t stress this enough. $TMC is the fastest path to actual mineral sovereignty the United States has right now. While every traditional mine is still stuck in a 20-30 year permitting nightmare, TMC already has the only SEC compliant deep sea reserve ever filed, NOAA full compliance locked, Allseas production system signed, and the commercial recovery permit decision still tracking for Q1 2027. Four critical metals in one rock. No digging. No blasting. Just vacuum the nodules and process them. Capital, policy, and the processing partner (Mariana) are all lining up at the exact same time. This is the purest speed play in the entire critical minerals space. (Not investment advice. High risk, high reward. Do your own work.)

$TMC CEO Gerard Barron was in the room Friday at the State Department critical minerals roundtable, where President Trump declared America a minerals superpower. The administration rolled out ~$3B in new mining commitments and fresh workforce funding for mining engineers. He also sat down with Turner Caldwell of Mariana Minerals, TMC’s processing partner, fresh off a $310M Series B. Capital is flowing to the exact layer $TMC needs.