KoBold聽Metals, backed by a coalition of billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has launched a four-continent search for deposits of lithium, the coveted metal used in batteries that power electric vehicles and high-tech devices.
The California-based startup, already working on opening a new copper-cobalt mine in Zambia, will deploy the latest technology to search for lithium in South Korea, Canada, the United States, Australia and Africa, it said in the statement.
Chief executive Kurt House noted the addition of lithium to the portfolio of battery metals KoBold wants to mine follows successes in exploring for nickel and copper in Canada and Zambia.
鈥淭wo years ago, we hired lithium luminary Prof Robert Linnen to be KoBold鈥檚 Chief Geologist, Lithium, and since his arrival, we鈥檝e been studying the fundamentals of lithium geochemistry,鈥� House said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now deploying those insights [and] over the next decade, KoBold aims to develop enough new lithium to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles.鈥�
The company, which uses machine learning to look for deposits of critical minerals, identified earlier in the year a lithium prospect in a region of the Baie James in Canada. The area in which it found it was previously thought to have no economic lithium deposits.聽
One of the Silicon Valley firm鈥檚 main objectives is closing the supply-gap needed to electrify transportation, which in the case of lithium will reach the $5-trillion mark, according to the company.聽
Besides its activities in Zambia, KoBold is active in two other African countries 鈥� Namibia, where is exploring for lithium, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it plans to begin exploration in coming weeks.
It also has exploration activities underway in South Korea, Australia and the United States.
From Canada to the world
Kobold鈥檚 quest for battery metals聽began three years ago in Canada,聽after it聽acquired rights to the area in northern Quebec, just south of Glencore鈥檚 Raglan nickel mine, where it detected lithium.
The start-up now has about a dozen exploration properties聽in places including Zambia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Western Australia, which聽have resulted from joint ventures聽with BHP听补苍诲听with BlueJay Mining聽(LON: JAY)聽to聽explore for聽minerals in Greenland.聽
All those assets聽contain or are expected to be聽sources of聽battery metals.聽聽
Using artificial intelligence, Kobold聽aims to create a 鈥淕oogle Maps鈥� of the Earth鈥檚 crust, with a special focus on finding copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium deposits.聽
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 traditional geologists and can help miners decide where to acquire land and drill, the company said.
Following a two-year rally to an all-time peak in 2022, lithium prices have collapsed due to an oversupply and a weaker-than-expected growth in battery demand.聽
Rising interest rates have dampened global EV sales, prompting some carmakers to revise their plans and analysts, including consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, believe the lithium market will remain in surplus until 2028.