In general, when Bill Gates invests in a project or in a company, there are reasons to believe in it. The latest, KoBold Metals, a mining company specializing in rare metals, has just passed the $1 billion milestone in valuation, thus becoming a “unicorn,” as the story goes. Wall Street Journal.
And if his field of activity seems, at first glance, far from the concerns of the American billionaire, the reality is quite different. Because it is about artificial intelligence and energy transition.
Use AI to dig more accurately
In fact, KoBold Metals focuses on rare metals (copper, lithium, cobalt, etc.) essential for the production of batteries for electric vehicles.
And to find metals faster and more efficiently, the Berkeley, California-based mining company uses artificial intelligence. Drones and helicopters emit waves to map rock strata on the ground. The data is then analyzed by the AI, which then indicates precisely where and how deep to dig.
Enough to dust off mining exploration and gain efficiency to meet the exponential demand linked to the energy transition.
Greenland, the promised land of rare metals
And Bill Gates is not the only one who believes in this project. Alibaba founder Jack Ma and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have also invested millions, along with other big tech bosses, through Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the Microsoft co-founder’s climate venture firm.
The new fundraising of $200 million makes it one of the first Silicon Valley mining startups to surpass $1 billion in valuation.
More than 60 projects in Africa, North America and Australia are under development at KoBold Metals. Among them: Zambia, with one of the world’s largest copper deposits, just acquired last December for $150 million.
But also Greenland because, and this is paradoxical, with the melting of the ice, rare metals such as nickel and cobalt are now being discovered in large quantities. Enough to potentially produce millions of electric vehicles.
Source: BFM TV
