Commodity Stocks: Odyssey Marine Exploration (OMEX)…
Remember those childhood dreams of being a treasure hunter? You know, gallivanting the globe like Indiana Jones in search of buried riches?
Well here’s a company doing just that…
Odyssey Marine Exploration (OMEX) is a Tampa, Florida-based ocean exploration company specializing in locating historic shipwrecks. According to Odyssey President Mark Gordon, the world’s oceans are littered with sunken vessels, dating back hundreds of years.
In fact, the United Nations estimates 3 million shipwrecks lie on the world’s seafloor, just waiting to be rediscovered.
And listen to this…
The UN believes those historic sunken vessels hold billions of dollars of silver, gold, and other valuable commodities.
This watery windfall is precisely why Odyssey spends millions of dollars per voyage to locate, explore, and potentially retrieve sunken cargo.
Sounds like a pipe dream of a business model, right?
Not so fast…
Odyssey recently recovered 110 tons of pure silver ingots from the sunken British ship, the SS Gairsoppa. A WWII German submarine torpedoed the ill-fated cargo ship in February 1941 off the coast of Ireland.
With each ingot weighing in at approximately 1,100 ounces, Odyssey’s find is worth a whopping $64.5 million! After splitting the proceeds with the British government, Odyssey is sailing away with a cool $51.5 million.
But that’s just the start of it…
According to a recent press release, the enormous SS Gairsoppa bounty is funding further exploration opportunities for Odyssey. In fact, the company already has its sights set on another silver laden British ship, the SS Mantola.
Much like the Gairsoppa, a German submarine downed the Mantola off the coast of Ireland. But this time the sinking occurred in 1917, during WWI. Odyssey estimates the Mantola holds just over 600,000 ounces of silver. If successful, the proceeds of the operation would generate an additional $9.6 million to Odyssey.
And the list of potential exploration projects doesn’t stop there…
President Mark Gordon revealed in a recent CNBC interview that his company has “a portfolio of projects that will continue to yield these returns.” In fact, Odyssey’s current target list represents over $800 million in total potential recovery value.
And believe it or not, treasure hunting isn’t all this exciting company does…
Odyssey is also a leader in the burgeoning multi-billion dollar offshore minerals business. According to the most recent corporate presentation, the world’s seafloors contain high concentrations of important precious and industrial metals.
Sizable traces of gold, copper, zinc, and silver are wrapped up in watery ooze known as Seafloor Massive Sulfides (SMS).
With newly developed technology, Odyssey believes it can profitably mine SMS from the ocean floor in an environmentally friendly manner. This highly valuable material will be vacuumed from the ocean floor to the cargo hold of an awaiting ship.
While Odyssey has yet to create any operational revenue from the offshore minerals business, the endeavor has enormous long-term potential. With land-based deposits of valuable metals becoming increasingly expensive and harder to mine, the world’s oceans are likely the next frontier for the global mining industry.
So there you have it…
If you have the urge to go hunting for buried treasure with your investment portfolio, OMEX should be at the top of your list!
Until Next Time,
Justin Bennett
Category: Commodities
