Mineral exploration and production have long been an arduous process. An AI-based metals discovery platform is now streamlining the exploration phase, slashing the time and cost of identifying viable mineral deposits for mining companies.
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Founded in 2017, Sidney-based Earth AI is making waves in the mineral industry with its AI-powered predictive technology for metals used in clean energy technology. Using its automated intelligence software for mineral discovery and proprietary, low-impact drilling methods, the company swiftly identifies valuable mineral assets in virgin territory at a fraction of the cost of traditional exploration methods. Earth AI then verifies the existence of those deposits through drilling and sells the lucrative mineral rights to that land to major mining companies.
Earth AI’s predictive technology stands out from other exploration methods by leveraging highly trained, continental-scale datasets encompassing over 400 million distinct data points. This novel approach enables broader, more comprehensive geospatial and geological modeling than industry competitors. The technology also incorporates remote satellite sensing, improving rates of early-stage discovery. Unlike traditional exploration technologies focusing on brownfield sites, or areas near existing mines, Earth AI specifically targets greenfield regions.
Earth AI claims an industry-setting discovery success rate of 75 percent and exploration cost savings of up to 80 percent. According to a March 2024 report by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the mining industry’s average discovery rate for metals is just 0.5 percent (with only 45 out of 15,000 projects coming into fruition). Earth AI’s AI-enabled Mineral Targeting Platform (MTP) is changing that number.
“Despite the tremendous global need for mineral resources for everything from the energy transition to day-to-day life, new mineral deposit discoveries are notorious for being expensive and time consuming,” Roman Teslyuk, founder and CEO of Earth AI, said in a news release. “Earth AI is changing this paradigm using its proprietary AI and drilling technology that has already made verified discoveries in greenfield regions. This new round of funding will be critical to expanding our operations and establishing a pipeline of attractive new mining projects for the industry.”
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According to Monte Hackett, Earth AI’s chief financial officer, mining firms pay between $500 million and $2.5 billion to acquire mineral rights to land identified by the company as containing high-potential deposits. That number may seem significant, but Katie Brigham of Heatmap notes that companies typically invest significantly more in exploration—a process that could take years even if done at similar cost levels. Additionally, conventional exploration methods carry high uncertainty.
In January, Earth AI closed an oversubscribed Series B funding round that exceeded its expectations by $5 million. The $20 million funding round was led by Tamarack Global and Cantos Ventures, with participation from Overmatch, Alpaca, and Sparkwave Capital. Existing investors Y Combinator and Scrum Ventures also participated in the round. The funds will be used to expand its project pipeline to over 50 locations and turbocharge its drilling operations to 100,000 meters, while keeping costs down to an industry-leading ~$100 per meter.
With this latest round, the company’s total funding is $38 million.
Identifying the precious metals needed to develop sustainable technologies such as batteries for electric vehicles, fuel cells, and wind turbines is key to expanding the clean energy economy. As global demand for essential minerals soars, eco-innovative companies like Earth AI are stepping in to accelerate discovery.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
