BHP聽(ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP)聽has struck a deal to use artificial intelligence tools developed by聽KoBold聽Metals, a start-up backed by a coalition of billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos,聽to look for critical materials used in electric vehicles聽(EVs) and clean energy technologies.聽
The world鈥檚 largest miner and the Silicon Valley-based tech firm聽will jointly fund聽and operate聽exploration using data processing technology to help predict the location of聽metals such as聽cobalt, nickel and copper, starting in Western Australia.聽
KoBold, backed by a coalition of billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, aims to create a 鈥淕oogle Maps鈥� of the Earth鈥檚 crust
The partnership聽will help BHP find more of the聽鈥渇uture-facing鈥� commodities it has vowed to focus on, while offering聽KoBold聽an opportunity to access exploration databases built up by the mining giant over decades.聽
鈥淕lobally, shallow ore deposits have largely been discovered, and remaining resources are likely deeper underground and harder to see from the surface,鈥� Keenan Jennings, vice president at BHP Metals Exploration, said in a statement. 鈥淭his alliance will combine historical data, artificial intelligence, and geoscience expertise to uncover what has previously been hidden.鈥澛�
KoBold, founded in 2018, counts among its backers聽big names such as Venture capital firm聽Andreessen Horowitz聽and聽Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The latter is financed by well-known billionaires including聽Microsoft鈥檚聽Bill Gates, Amazon鈥檚聽Jeff Bezos, Bloomberg聽founder Michael Bloomberg,聽American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager聽Ray Dalio,聽and聽Virgin Group鈥檚 founder聽Richard Branson.聽
Not a miner聽聽
KoBold, as its chief executive officer Kurt House has stated multiple times, does not intend to be a mine operator 鈥渆ver.鈥澛犅�
The company鈥檚 quest for battery metals聽began last year in Canada,聽after it聽acquired rights to an area of about 1,000 square km聽(386 sq. miles)聽in northern Quebec, just south of Glencore鈥檚 Raglan nickel mine.聽
It聽now has about a dozen exploration properties聽in places such as聽Zambia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Western Australia, which聽have resulted from joint ventures like the one with BHP.聽The common denominator of those assets聽is聽that they contain or are expected to be聽sources of聽battery metals.聽聽
KoBold has about a dozen exploration properties聽in places such as聽Canada, Zambia and Western Australia, which聽have resulted from joint ventures like the one with BHP
Last month it聽signed a joint venture agreement聽with BlueJay Mining聽(LON: JAY)聽to聽explore for聽minerals in Greenland.聽
The firm聽aims to create a 鈥淕oogle Maps鈥� of the Earth鈥檚 crust, with a special focus on finding cobalt deposits. It collects and analyzes multiple streams of data 鈥� from old drilling results to satellite imagery 鈥� to better understand where new deposits might be found.聽聽
Algorithms applied to the data collected determine the geological patterns that indicate a potential deposit of cobalt, which occurs naturally alongside nickel and copper.聽
The technology can locate resources that may have eluded more traditionally-minded geologists and can help miners decide where to acquire land and drill, the company said.