AI Discovers World-Class Copper Deposit! Mining Unicorn Backed by Gates and Bezos Announces Major Breakthrough
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According to the latest news on Monday, KoBold Metals, a Silicon Valley unicorn using AI to explore metals like copper and lithium for green transition, announced the discovery of a massive copper deposit in Zambia's Mingomba project.
This project also highlights the efficiency of AI—KoBold Metals announced in mid-December 2022 during "Biden's Africa visit" that it would invest nearly $150 million to acquire a majority stake in the Mingomba deposit, achieving results in just over a year.
For many Chinese investors, the names behind KoBold Metals might be more familiar than the company itself—Breakthrough Energy Ventures, led by Bill Gates and backed by Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Masayoshi Son, Ray Dalio, Michael Bloomberg, among others, along with renowned institutions like T. Rowe Price, a16z, and Norway's Equinor.
What's the latest breakthrough?
Regarding the scale of the newly discovered copper deposit, KoBold President Josh Goldman cited the example that the future development potential of the Mingomba deposit is comparable to the Kakula copper mine, a world-class deposit jointly developed by Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining near the Democratic Republic of Congo border, which produced nearly 400,000 tons of copper last year.
Goldman stated: "The story of Mingomba, in terms of both scale and grade, is similar to Kakula. This will be one of the highest-grade large underground mines in the world." It is reported that KoBold uses its artificial intelligence technology to process drilling data to optimize the exploration of the Mingomba copper-cobalt mine. Although the company aims to achieve its first output after 2030, it is now preparing a new resource assessment report and completing feasibility studies to advance the decision-making process for mine construction. Goldman anticipates that developing such a mine may require an investment exceeding $2 billion.
Unconcerned about recent price fluctuations
Regarding the recent continuous decline in prices of battery materials such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium, which has affected multiple projects worldwide, KoBold believes this will not be a short-term concern for the company.
Goldman explained that the company is raising funds precisely for long-term investments. For KoBold, the prices of these commodities by 2035 will be crucial, but the company is not concerned about their prices in 2024.
The company's business logic is based on the increasing demand for metals driven by wind and solar power farms, high-voltage cables, and electric vehicles. Many mining giants have also warned that projects related to the green transition may lead to shortages of metals such as copper. For instance, following COP28 last year, Citibank analysts projected that the global push for renewable energy infrastructure would generate an additional 4.2 million tons of copper demand by 2030. This could potentially drive copper prices to $15,000 per ton by 2025. For context, LME copper has recently traded around $8,500, with its all-time high reaching $10,730 in March last year.
Notably, while the Mingomba mine represents KoBold's most advanced project, the company is actively exploring over 60 sites across Australia, Canada, and the United States. In December last year, it announced the discovery of several potential lithium deposits in Namibia, Quebec, and Nevada.
KoBold revealed spending nearly $100 million on exploration in 2023, with expenditures expected to exceed that figure this year. The company emphasized that its current exploration budget now rivals those of mining giants like BHP and Rio Tinto.