Metals Company says Benchmark completes lifecycle assessment of NORI-D

TMC the metals company announced that lithium-ion battery supply chain research firm, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, has completed an independent third-party lifecycle assessment of the environmental impacts of the Company’s planned NORI-D Polymetallic Nodule Project as it looks to bring online the planet’s largest undeveloped deposit of critical battery metals. The full LCA report can be downloaded here and a summary document here. Benchmark’s team of LCA practitioners set out to assess the potential impacts of mining, transport, processing and refining (‘cradle-to-gate’) of important battery materials including an intermediate NiCuCo matte product and final end-products nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate and copper cathode from seafloor polymetallic nodules collected from the NORI-D area. They then compared these impacts to producing the same metals via key land-based routes, including from Indonesian nickel laterites and mixed sulfides and oxides mined in the DRC. These raw material inputs are widely used in active cathode materials for nickel-rich cathode chemistries for lithium-ion batteries and electrical wiring, enabling the rapid growth of electrified transport and energy storage. Seven environmental impact categories critical for the metal industry were analyzed-global warming potential, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication, particulate matter formation, water consumption-and supplementary research into waste generation was also conducted. Nickel, cobalt and copper products derived from the NORI-D Nodule Project performed better in almost every impact category, except for global warming potential and water consumption of producing cobalt sulfate, where one land-based route performed better. With over half of nickel now being sourced from beneath biodiverse rainforests and carbon sinks in Indonesia, the study found that TMC‘s nickel sulfate product would outperform not just Indonesian nickel but all other key land-based production routes, lowering emissions by between 70-80% on average, including with 70% lower GWP.