The next big discoveries in mining might come from an unlikely source: satellites in space.
What’s happening:
- Australian based space technology startup Fleet Space and Stanford’s Mineral-X have announced a new research collaboration to accelerate energy transition metals discoveries through satellite technology
The big idea:
- Fleet Space uses ambient noise tomography technology to identify specific targets that may contain significant metals deposits and conduct holistic surveying of mining projects
- Through satellite connectivity and edge computing, Fleet Space is then able to quickly compress those data streams and provide nearly real time access to the results from initial surveys
- Fleet Space’s technology then builds out data visualizations to enable better decision making about potential new drilling targets and improve the accuracy of any continued drilling
Why it matters:
- Stanford’s Mineral-X research project has collaborated with some of the leading technology companies in the mining space, including Bill Gates-backed KoBold Metals
- The new research collaboration between Fleet Space and Stanford’s Mineral-X may offer unique new insights into how to better leverage satellite technology for making new discoveries of metal deposits globally for the energy transition
By the numbers:
- Fleet Space has successfully completed more than 150 land surveys
- Fleet Space has validated their technology on mining properties on 5 continents
Going deeper:
- Fleet Space’s satellite technology is already being used by many of the world’s largest mining companies including Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO), Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD), Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) and others