TMC the metals company Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Metals Company's second quarter 2025 corporate update conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Craig Sheskey, CFO of the Metals Company. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Liz. Please note that during this call, certain statements made by the company are going to be forward-looking and based on management's beliefs and assumptions from information available at this time. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond our control. Additionally, please note that the company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Our remarks today may also include non-GAAP financial measures, including with respect to free cash flows, and additional details regarding these non-GAAP financial measures, including reconciliations to the most recent directly comparable GAAP financial measures, can be found in our slide deck being used with this call. You're welcome to follow along with our slide deck, or if joining us by phone, you can access it at any time at investors.metals.co. And I'd now like to turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Jared Barron. Jared, please go ahead.

Thanks, Craig, and thanks to all of you for attending. So firstly, I want to acknowledge everyone who made the pilgrimage to New York for our first ever Strategy Day on August 4 last week. And that includes my leadership team, the Board of Directors, our new and longtime strategic partners, our sponsoring states, our research analysts, institutional investors, and a select group from our army of retail investors. I believe this experiment was a resounding success, probably the single most exciting workday that I've ever experienced. And if you are not part of it this year, fear not. We intend to repeat this on an annual basis, getting bigger and better each time. And as our coalition of investors and partners continues to grow, just make sure you hold enough TMC shares when the invites go out. So the day was packed with meaningful conversations, including a deep dive into our partnerships with an exciting panel, including Edward and Stephanie Herrimer of Allseas and Careers Inc. Chairman Yungbi Choi. And in true TMC style, the evening ended on a high note, quite literally, with a spirited karaoke party. The strategy day also featured the ringing of the NASDAQ closing bell, which our NASDAQ rep said was one of the most enthusiastic and well-attended that they have ever had. And this moment gave me an opportunity to reflect on what's happened in the previous four years since we last rang that same bell. And I keep coming back to our key TMC motto, adapt or die. And it's not just that we've been able to adapt to a capital-light approach, it's Not that we've been able to adapt to a new regulator. It's that amidst all of this adaption, we've been able to keep the project moving forward while so many others have been stuck at zero. And this now puts us in a unique position where we have a wide moat around the business due in part to all of the project spending and historic milestones over the last 14 years. But also because we're one of the unique companies with competency in this new industry. that can actually take the path offered by the existing US seabed mining code. Many others have no choice but to wait for the long promised and never delivered ISA mining code. And I believe that the pace of our progress is only going to accelerate from here with a PFS in hand as the only commercially viable deep seabed resource opportunity in the next several years for any potential customers, commercial partners, and of course, public shareholders. Make no mistake, TMC is here to stay, and we are just getting started. Another highlight of August 4 was the release of our PFS and initial assessment. Two documents with sign-off from qualified persons showing a combined project net present value of more than $23 billion, while also showing a clear capital addition path to first production. The PFS also included a world first, reserves, for a nodule project. Now, I do know that there are some who may have been hoping for production sooner than Q4 2027 expected start date. Well, first of all, as anyone familiar with resource investing will tell you, Q4 2027 is right around the corner when talking about a multi-decade project of this scale and value. It's also important to keep in mind that there has always been an anticipated ramp-up period post-permitting, where modifications and mobilization with the hidden gem would be required prior to beginning commercial production. And this anticipated ramp-up period has always been expected by the research analysts who cover our stock. In fact, last year in November, when the share price was below a dollar, we discussed the fact that we would not be making capital investment on the hidden gem until we had regulatory certainty. We're now excited to be ramping up this work again and with our partner Allseas and instead of a sequence where that work begins after the grant of a permit, we and the board soon expect to have the confidence to get moving and this is due to the signals and tangible progress coming to us from DC. Not just to issue a permit but do it in a way that can be legally defensible for many decades to come. So today's agenda, first we'll take you through a summary of all the amazing things that have happened in the last few months, including the strategic investment from Careers Inc. We've also renewed our partnerships with Nauru and Tonga, reaffirming our shared science and rules-based approach to delivering lasting benefits for the Pacific nations while building the secure critical mineral supply chains underpinning reindustrialization, good jobs, and resilient economies. I will then discuss our cadence of regular predictable progress at NOAA, including our notice this week of full compliance on our exploration applications. And I'll then turn it over to Craig to discuss the PFS, DIA, and our financials. Well, I'm happy to again report that we have renewed and strengthened our agreements with both the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga, our longstanding sponsoring states who have led from the front since the beginning. And these updated agreements reaffirm our shared commitment to a science rules-based approach to developing this new industry, setting a high bar for environmental stewardship, transparency, and community benefit. For Nauru and Tonga, These partnerships are designed to deliver durable economic opportunities, capacity building, and long-term revenues that can support generations to come. They provide the stable, collaborative partnerships we need to responsibly advance towards first production, while also contributing to U.S. and allied efforts to secure resilient supplies of critical minerals. On a personal note, I very much enjoyed our meetings in D.C. with the Nauruan delegation on August 6th. And it was great to see the U.S. State Department recognize the strategic importance of our sponsoring state. In June, we announced a landmark strategic investment of $85 million from Korea Zinc, the world's largest smelter of non-ferrous metals. Korea Zinc is positioned to use TMC's USA nodule-derived materials to produce refined metals, copper foil, and pecan in their existing facilities in South Korea. and potentially build new facilities here in the USA. To further that ambition, in August, I traveled to D.C. with Chairman Choi. Among others, we met with David Copley, the president's critical mineral czar, to discuss securing domestic supply chains and advancing U.S. mineral independence. And I look forward to another visit with Korea Zinc on their home turf this September as we push on bringing additional investment into the United States. This quarter we welcomed Michael Hess and Alex Spiro to the TMC board, two highly connected leaders whose experience spans global energy, finance, law, and high-stakes negotiation. Michael Hess spent time at Goldman Sachs and KKR and now heads the Hess Family Corporation and brings deep relationships across government and industry that will help accelerate our access to capital and strategic partnerships. And of course, the Hess family are recognized as one of the great industrial giants in the United States. Alex Spiro, one of America's most prominent trial lawyers and strategic advisors, has represented some of the biggest names in the business and technology, and his insight and network will be invaluable as we navigate the complex intersection of policy, markets, and innovation. And together, this board combines unmatched vision, credibility and connections, giving TMC the strategic edge we need to move Nori-D into production. This quarter, we continued methodically moving the regulatory ball forward under the U.S. Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, a clear enforceable framework that gives us visibility and confidence in our path to production. I know it's not always quick enough for everyone, Just take a step back on how fast these milestones have been achieved since the initial applications were submitted just a few months ago. In April, application submissions. In May, substantial compliance on the exploration license applications. And in July, proposed amendments to DSMRA to expedite the process. And on August 12, NOAA confirmed full compliance for our exploration license applications, another important milestone that validates the thoroughness of our submission and moves us to the next stage in the process. And I'm pleased to say that NOAA has begun the process of certifying these applications, a 100-day process that started on July 27 and July 28. Each regulatory milestone de-risks the project and strengthens the investment case. and we are systematically progressing through a transparent U.S. regulatory process and with a clear path ahead toward first production from Nori-D in Q4, 2027. So we're also looking forward to this administration's proposed amendments to streamline permitting and supportive guidance from senior officials underscoring the U.S. government's intent to lead in the production and processing of deep seabed critical minerals. The public comment period on these amendments will be concluded on September 5th this year. And in contrast to NOAA's great progress in the last several months, I'd like to acknowledge that the ISA finished their 30th session this July. The ISA continues to keep calling for regulations, but doesn't seem to be particularly interested in delivering those regulations. Keep in mind that NOAA had pioneered deep sea environmental research, and they'd put in place working regulations prior to the ISA ever being formed. So on that note, I would like to turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Craig Sheskey.