diverse project portfolio

Cook Islands Polymetallic Nodule Exploration Program

Polymetallic Nodules

The polymetallic nodules in the license areas being explored by Odyssey and its partners could double the global supply of cobalt, a necessary mineral to power a green future.

The Cook Islands Abundant Resource

The Cook Islands boasts the world's largest documented collection of polymetallic nodules, estimated at a staggering 6.7 billion tonnes. These valuable resources, located within the Cook Islands' waters and under its jurisdiction, are managed and regulated by the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA), ensuring sustainable and responsible extraction practices.

The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) manages and regulates of all seabed minerals activity under the jurisdiction of the Cook Islands government. In 2022, the SBMA granted three exploration licenses to companies, allowing them to conduct exploration in the Cook Islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Odyssey has ownership stakes in two of the three exploration license holders in the Cook Islands’ EEZ.

JORC Resource Estimate Provided by the SBMA

Ownership Snapshot

Odyssey owns 14.5% of CIC and is a member of the CIC Consortium as well as a marine operations partner.

Odyssey recently entered into a purchase agreement to acquire a 13% interest in Ocean Minerals, LLC (OML) in exchange for a contribution by Odyssey of its interest in a 6,000-meter ROV and cash contributions of up to $10 million in a series of transactions over the next year. The purchase agreement allows Odyssey to acquire a total of up to 40% of OML over the next 18 months at Odyssey’s discretion.

NOTES

Nodule estimate on a wet basis, with a 5 kg/m^2 nodule abundance cutoff
Estimated resource provided at an indicated + inferred confidence level
Titanium and Rare Earth Elements not considered in the 2023 JORC made available by the SBMA; past analysis suggests enrichment of these minerals in nodules from the Cook Islands’ EEZ
JORC does not account for all of CIC area
CIC figures for CBG 01-09; CBG 10 not included
Iron tonnes shown on an Fe2O3 basis

Links for Further Information

Investors are encouraged to read these cautionary notes which can be found here.

SOURCE: 2023 Cook Islands Polymetallic Nodule Deposit: Technical Report and Supporting Documentation for the Cook Islands Nodules Resource Estimate written RSC published by SBMA in April 2023

OML/Moana Minerals

Odyssey holds an interest in Ocean Minerals LLC (OML). OML’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Moana Minerals Limited, has a five-year exploration license for a project they call Moana-1. The 23,630 square kilometers license area contains a stated mineral resource of over 500 million tonnes of nodules (indicated + inferred) on a wet basis at a 5 kg/m2 nodule abundance cutoff. The nodules are enriched in several metals, including a cobalt grade of approximately 0.5%.

Odyssey joins Transocean as an equity holder and marine operations partner in the project. The 6,000-meter Comanche ROV will be part of a suite of tools to continue mineral resource exploration and environmental data collection needed to increase resource confidence. Over the next year, OML expects to advance its current JORC-compliant report substantially increasing resources reported at indicated and measured levels of confidence and to obtain its preliminary Feasibility Study, among other important project milestones.

CIC Project

Odyssey is a consortium member of and marine operations provider for CIC Limited, which holds an exploration license in the Cook Islands’ EEZ. The CIC team completed a series of exploration activities in its license area in 2022, sampling seafloor sediment while collecting baseline data to understand the local and regional environment. CIC is planning additional offshore exploration and research activities for 2023 to continue to gather geological and environmental data in line with the company’s license requirements and the Cook Islands’ seabed mineral regulations.