Bill Gates-backed startup is confident it can find more battery metals
- KoBold Metals, a mining startup backed by billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is optimistic about the discovery potential of some of the most sought-after energy transition metals.
- The California-based company uses artificial intelligence to create a “treasure map” to help find new deposits of materials such as copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
- “We believe the potential for discovery is great. There is much more to be found in Zambia,” Josh Goldman, president of KoBold Metals, told CNBC via video conference.
Copper plates on wagons ready for onward transport at the Mufulira refinery, operated by Mopani Copper Mines Plc, in Mufulira, Zambia, on Friday, May 6, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
KoBold Metals, a mining startup backed by billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is optimistic about the discovery potential of some of the most sought-after energy transition metals.
This comes shortly after the Silicon Valley-based metals exploration company announced the rare discovery of a huge copper deposit in Zambia.
Josh Goldman, president of KoBold Metals, told CNBC that the company’s investors are excited about the discovery, especially at a time when the mining industry is struggling to keep up with the metals-intensive energy transition.
“They are happy about this news because that is exactly what we have planned. The purpose of the company is to discover, find and develop mineral resources that we need for the energy transition,” Goldman said via video conference.
“This is the company’s first major win and is one of the most exceptional ore deposits in the world,” he added.
KoBold Metals uses artificial intelligence to create a “treasure map” to help find new deposits of materials such as copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel. The Company currently has more than 60 exploration-stage projects in multiple countries.
The Company’s goal is to consistently achieve success in exploration – and to improve overall exploration success and reduce the capital intensity of discovery.
Josh Goldman
President of KoBold Metals
The startup’s investors include US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Norwegian energy giant Equinor, the world’s largest mining company BHP and Breakthrough Energy, a climate and technology fund founded by Bill Gates in 2015.
Breakthrough Energy’s backers include Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Jack Ma of Alibaba and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
Goldman said KoBold Metals is now focused on advancing its Mingomba project in Zambia, where the company expects to begin producing copper within 10 years, and discovering the next deposit of critical minerals.
“The Central African Copper Belt is the part of the world where you can find things of this exceptional quality. And that’s why we’re there. The geology is extraordinary,” he said.
“It’s not just because such deposits haven’t existed yet. It’s more that there is more to find. Here is Mingomba – and then where is the next Mingomba after that? “This is the part of the world and the type of deposit where we can find resources of this scale and quality and Zambia offers a truly exceptional operating environment,” he added.
Copper is in high demand due to its use in renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage systems and electric vehicles. Zambia is the second largest copper producer in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
KoBold Metals said most copper currently mined has an ore grade of about 0.6%, while the Mingomba deposit has a copper ore grade of more than 5%.
“That means you have to mine a lot less rock to get the same amount of copper,” Goldman said.
“For a 0.5 percent ore deposit, you have to mine 200 kilograms of rock to extract 1 kilogram of copper. For a 5 percent ore deposit, you have to mine 20 kilograms of rock to extract 1 kilogram of copper. So that’s a lot less soil to disturb, that’s a lot less waste you create.
One kilogram is approximately 2.2 pounds.
Workers monitor electrolyte baths at the Mufulira refinery operated by Mopani Copper Mines Plc in Mufulira, Zambia, on Friday, May 6, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Goldman said KoBold Metals plans to list the shares in the next three to four years.
“We expect that being a listed company will probably be the best way to fund the business in due course,” he added.
“The purpose of the company is to achieve consistent success in exploration – and to improve overall exploration success and reduce the capital intensity of discovery,” Goldman said. “We think the potential for discovery is great. There is much more to discover in Zambia.”
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