TMC's plan is about as straightforward as underwater mining can be.

TMC 的计划就像水下采矿一样简单。

And TMC is not the only firm interested.

TMC并不是唯一感兴趣的公司。

Gerard Barron, TMC's boss, estimates there are about 3.8m tonnes of nickel in the area.

TMC 老板杰拉德·巴伦 (Gerard Barron) 估计该地区的镍储量约为 380 万吨。

TMC's robot will destroy many organisms it drives across, as well as any that live on the nodules it collects.

TMC 的机器人将摧毁它所驶过的许多生物体，以及任何生活在它收集的结核上的生物体。

The 2.5m hectares of seabed that TMC hopes to exploit is expected to yield about 3.8m tonnes of nickel, or about 1.5 tonnes per hectare.

TMC 希望开发的 250 万公顷海底预计可产出约 380 万吨镍，即每公顷约 1.5 吨。

And because the nodules must be taken away for processing anyway, companies like TMC can be encouraged to choose places where energy comes with low emissions.

而且由于无论如何都必须将结核带走进行加工，因此可以鼓励像 TMC 这样的公司选择能源排放低的地方。

If those regulations are not ready by July 9th—and it seems they will not be—then the ISA is required to " consider and provisionally approve" TMC's application.

如果这些法规在 7 月 9 日之前还没有准备好（而且看起来不会），那么 ISA 需要“考虑并临时批准”TMC 的申请。

A Belgian firm called Global Sea Mineral Resources—a subsidiary of Deme, a dredging giant—is also keen, and has tested a sea-floor robot and riser system similar to TMC's.

一家名为 Global Sea Mineral Resources 的比利时公司（疏浚巨头 Deme 的子公司）也对此很感兴趣，并测试了类似于 TMC 的海底机器人和立管系统。