The Metals Company Inc. (TMC) announced that it has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Epsilon Carbon Pvt. Ltd. (Epsilon Carbon) to complete a pre-feasibility study for a commercial-scale deep-sea nodule processing plant in India with a targeted production capacity of more than 30,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of an intermediate nickel-copper-cobalt matte product used for active cathode material (CAM) for Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) and more than 750,000 TPA of manganese silicate by-product expected to be used in manganese alloy production for the steel industry (Project Zero Plant).
TMC intends to supply polymetallic nodules and onshore processing expertise; Epsilon Carbon intends to finance, engineer, permit, build and operate the Project Zero Plant. Epsilon Carbon intends to deliver a pre-feasibility report (PFR) for a plant in India powered by renewables and with the targeted processing capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of wet nodules and production start in time to receive nodules collected from NORI-D area starting around Q4 2024. It is anticipated that TMC and Epsilon Carbon will enter a binding Heads of Terms for construction and operations of Project Zero Plant by September 30, 2022.
