A California-based metals company backed by some of the world’s wealthiest people used AI to find one of the world’s largest copper mines.
“When you hear the words Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and AI, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a giant copper mine in Zambia that helps power the world,” Quartz said.
But an increasingly electric future “will require lots of batteries, motors and wires,” The Economist said. That necessarily means that there is a large amount of cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel used to build them.Thus, for prospectors, we believe they can increase the efficiency of the profession, especially It’s a great time for people.”
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“Google Map of the Earth’s Crust”
KoBold Metals, which takes its name from the “mythical subterranean sprites that plagued miners in medieval Germany,” uses artificial intelligence to gather historical geological archives to “Google” the earth’s crust. Create a map.
The Economist notes that some of the geological, geochemical, and geophysical data needed to feed the AI models is new, “but much of it was previously sourced from the archives of the National Geological Survey, geological journals. , and other historical repositories.”
The algorithm helps “spot patterns and draw inferences about where to sink new mines,” the publication said. Mining.com reported that the technology “can uncover resources that traditional geologists may not have been able to discover, and can help miners decide where to acquire land and drill.”
KoBold is not the only miner implementing AI, but the huge discovery in Zambia marks a turning point in how the technology can be used for exploration.
“AI has a lot of room for improvement.”
AI is increasingly being touted as a useful way to discover new sources of lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel “faster and theoretically with less environmental damage than traditional methods”, Business Green says. said.
The International Energy Agency said access to these minerals, and the investment needed to obtain more of them, “falls short of what is needed to transform the energy sector.”
Copper, in particular, is used in solar panels, wind turbines, and other equipment needed to move the world to net-zero energy. “So if AI has the potential to get critical minerals out of the ground faster and into products, that could be a good thing,” Quartz said.
The world’s largest mining companies are struggling to find high-quality assets, and demand for copper is expected to soar as countries begin efforts to electrify their transportation systems and transition to renewable energy. “The Financial Times (FT) reported. So the latest discoveries in Zambia “could boost Western efforts to reduce dependence on China for metals essential to decarbonizing everything from cars to power transmission systems.” It is said that
99% of exploration projects cannot be converted into physical mines. “There is therefore a lot of room for AI to improve things,” said The Economist. “It may also help solve more subtle problems. By greatly expanding the amount of rocks that can be searched, new attacks in familiar, well-governed countries could become possible.”
Josh Goldman, founder and president of KoBold Metals, told the FT: We can help babies grow, but we have to increase birth rates. That’s the hardest part, how to find things in the first place. ”
I feel like AI will give me the answer.
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