Earth AI Pioneers AI-Driven Exploration for Hidden Mineral Deposits in Australia

Last summer, the mining startup KoBold made headlines by claiming it had discovered one of the largest copper deposits in the world in Zambia in the past decade. Now, another startup, Earth AI, has exclusively shared with TechCrunch details about its own findings: promising reserves of critical minerals in certain parts of Australia that have been overlooked by other mining companies for decades.

While it’s still uncertain if these deposits are as substantial as those identified by KoBold, this development suggests that future supplies of critical minerals may increasingly rely on data obtained through artificial intelligence.

«The real breakthrough in mining isn’t so much geographical as it is technological,» Roman Teslyuk, the founder and CEO of Earth AI, told TechCrunch.

Earth AI has identified deposits of copper, cobalt, and gold in the Northern Territory, as well as silver, molybdenum, and tin in another site located 310 miles (500 kilometers) northwest of Sydney in New South Wales.

The inception of Earth AI stemmed from Teslyuk’s postgraduate studies. A native of Ukraine, he was working on his PhD at the University of Sydney, where he became acquainted with Australia’s mining sector. In that region, the government owns the rights to mineral deposits and leases them for six years. According to him, geological survey companies have been required to submit their data to a national archive since the 1970s.

«For some reason, no one is using them,» he remarked. «If I could create an algorithm that could absorb all this knowledge and learn from the mistakes and successes of millions of geologists in the past, I could predict much more accurately where minerals might be found in the future.»

Teslyuk established Earth AI as a software development company focused on predicting potential mineral deposits and then reaching out to clients who might be interested in further exploration. However, clients were hesitant to invest, partly because they were reluctant to risk millions on predictions based on unproven technology.

«The mining industry is very conservative,» Teslyuk explained. «Anything that falls outside of accepted dogma is considered heresy.»

As a result, Earth AI decided to develop its own drilling equipment to demonstrate that the sites it identified were indeed as promising as its software suggested. The company was accepted into the Y Combinator program in spring 2019 and spent the next few years refining its equipment and software. In January, Earth AI raised $20 million in a Series B funding round.

Although the company utilizes AI to search for minerals similar to KoBold, Teslyuk claims that Earth AI approaches the task differently. He stated that Earth AI’s algorithms are designed to quickly and efficiently scan vast areas for deposits that might otherwise go unnoticed.

«The way we searched for metals in the past, during the 20th century, took an incredibly long time. Finding something can take decades,» Teslyuk said. «With the modern pace of life, you simply can’t afford to wait that long.»