In a world increasingly driven by electrification and the energy transition, the demand for critical metals like copper and lithium is skyrocketing. But as Connie Chan, general partner at a16z, pointed out in a recent episode of the a16z Podcast, finding these essential resources is no easy feat.
“There is plenty of metal in the Earth’s crust,” explained Tom Hunt, VP of Technology at KoBold, a mineral exploration company using artificial intelligence to locate critical materials. “The question is, how do we find places where the history of the Earth has concentrated these metal deposits to the point where we can extract them both cost-effectively and with minimal environmental impact?”
Traditional exploration methods, relying on surface expressions and manual mapping, are no longer sufficient. Most easily accessible deposits have already been discovered, forcing the industry to look deeper and in more challenging environments. This is where advanced technologies, particularly AI and machine learning, are transforming the game.
KoBold, one of Chan’s key investments, is at the forefront of this technological revolution. By applying image recognition algorithms to satellite data, integrating multiple data sources, and optimizing drill hole placement, the company can identify promising mineral deposits with unprecedented efficiency.
Copper is just so good at transmitting electricity, and lithium is so good in batteries and it’s really hard to see how you can, on a large scale, remove such elements. Other considerations are elements where the supply is concentrated in very small areas, things that on local or shorter time scales might become really critical.
But the path to discovery is not without its challenges. Historical records and unstructured data must be digitized and structured, requiring close collaboration between geoscientists and data scientists. MPK Makai, a Zambian mining and civil engineer at KoBold, emphasized the importance of developing a shared language and understanding across disciplines.
“We’ve been fortunate to work with contractors that allow us to trial our hardware that Tom and his team build, ship it out to Zambia, put it next to a driller, do some basic training on how do we capture imaging of the core, like 360 imaging of the core, as it’s coming out of the ground, which is really revolutionary,” Makai explained.
The impact of these new exploration approaches extends far beyond the mining industry itself. For countries like Zambia and across Africa, the investment and innovation brought by companies like KoBold are stimulating opportunities for industrialization, development, and trade.
“This is what many African governments want,” said Makai. “And an investment like KoBold into Zambia is stimulating opportunities, knowing that beyond what we do in exploration and eventually mining, we’re actually driving the development of the youngest population on the continent.”
As the world faces the dual challenges of meeting the growing demand for critical metals and mitigating the environmental impact of extraction, the work being done by KoBold and others in the industry offers a glimpse into a more sustainable and technologically advanced future.
“The ability to take new technologies and apply them to solve the problems, and knowing that you’re absolutely critical to ensuring that we can solve the problems that we need to solve globally,” said Gilchrist. “We don’t do our job properly, we’re going to slow down the ability to solve problems.”
With artificial intelligence and human ingenuity working hand in hand, the search for the materials that will power our future has never been more promising – or more important.
