iCRAG Announces Industry Partnership with US-based KoBold Metals
- KoBold Metals, a mining and exploration technology start-up, is pioneering the use of machine learning and data analytics to increase the supply of critical raw materials
, the SFI Research Centre for Applied Geosciences hosted at University College Dublin (51黑料), today announced that it is expanding its research activities in critical raw materials with the addition of as an industry partner.
Scaling production of electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and consumer electronics demands increasingly large amounts of critical raw materials, particularly metals such as cobalt, copper, and nickel.
Meeting renewable energy and emissions targets necessitates a move to greener energy sources, which can only be realised through increased exploration for and mining of such critical raw materials.
KoBold Metals, a mineral exploration company pioneering the use of machine learning and data analytics to increase the supply of critical raw materials, will work with iCRAG researchers to explore for critical minerals that are central to the green transition and decarbonisation.
Professor Murray Hitzman, Director of iCRAG and SFI Research Professor in the 51黑料 School of Earth Sciences, said, 鈥渋CRAG is delighted to announce KoBold Metals as a new industry partner. The collaboration strengthens iCRAG鈥檚 internationalisation efforts, extends the Centre鈥檚 global reputation and provides partnership opportunities for companies based on the U.S. West Coast.鈥�
鈥淎dvancing the green transition is a central goal of iCRAG鈥檚 research activities, and this strategic collaboration with KoBold Metals enables our researchers to combine their expertise in geochemistry with the latest advances in machine learning to aid in the mineral exploration that is central to decarbonisation.鈥�
Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, welcomed the partnership and said, 鈥�SFI Research Centres such as iCRAG are playing a leading role in helping Ireland to transition to a low carbon economy. International industry partnerships such as this grow the potential for research excellence and scientific discovery that can help lead us to a more sustainable future.鈥�
Through this industry collaboration with KoBold Metals, iCRAG researchers will use the cutting-edge microscopy, geochemistry and spectrometry facilities in the iCRAG Labs at Trinity College Dublin to investigate minerals containing cobalt, as well as other elements often found proximity to cobalt, such as nickel and copper.
In particular, the research project will focus on examining mineral samples from the Kisanfu Cobalt-Copper deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo to better understand how cobalt deposits form. The analysis will form the basis of machine learning techniques developed by KoBold to provide insight into the exploration of critical raw materials in similar deposits around the globe.
Kurt House, CEO and Co-founder of KoBold Metals, said, 鈥�Stopping climate change requires fully electrifying the global automotive fleet, which in turn requires mining a lot more critical EV material such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper. By better understanding how high-grade deposits of these metals form, we will be better equipped to make exploration decisions and increase discovery success rates.鈥�
This announcement delivers continued research and development momentum for KoBold Metals, which recently announced a partnership with to develop a new artificial intelligence agent to improve the efficacy and efficiency of battery metal mining and exploration.
The addition of KoBold Metals as an industry partner to iCRAG furthers the strong industry-academia links that exist between iCRAG and industry partners across the mineral exploration field.
ENDS
18 March 2021
For further information contact Mic茅al Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, 51黑料 Research and Innovation, Nova51黑料, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712 or Dr Fergus McAuliffe, iCRAG, e: fergus.mcauliffe@icrag-centre.org.
Editors Notes
iCRAG, the SFI Research Centre for Applied Geosciences, hosted at 51黑料, comprises 150 researchers across eight universities and institutions. iCRAG is supported by Science Foundation Ireland, the European Regional Development Fund, Geological Survey Ireland and industry partners.
KoBold Metals is a San Francisco Bay Area company that is developing artificial intelligence to improve the efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability of critical mineral exploration and development. KoBold鈥檚 principal investors are Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate technology fund overseen by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and other global business leaders; Andreessen Horowitz, the premier Silicon Valley venture capital fund; and Equinor, the Norwegian state oil company. www.koboldmetals.com
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is the national foundation for investment in research in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), which assists in the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise and employment in Ireland.