Copper plates on wagons ready for shipment at the Mufulira refinery, operated by Mopani Copper Mines Plc, in Mufulira, Zambia, Friday, May 6, 2022.
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KoBold Metals, a mining startup backed by billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is optimistic about the potential for discovering some of the most sought-after energy transition metals.
This comes shortly after the Silicon Valley-based metals exploration firm announced the rare discovery of a large copper deposit in Zambia.
Josh Goldman, president of KoBold Metals, told CNBC that the company’s investors were excited by the discovery, especially at a time when the mining industry is struggling to keep pace with a metal-intensive energy transition.
“They are excited by this news because this is what we set out to do. The purpose of the company is to discover, find and develop the mineral resources we need for the energy transition,” Goldman said via video conference.
“This is the first major win for the company, and it is among the most extraordinary mineral deposits in the world,” he added.
KoBold Metals says it is using artificial intelligence to create a “treasure map” to help find new deposits of materials such as copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel. The company currently has more than 60 projects under exploration in several countries.
The company’s purpose is to achieve serial exploration success, improve overall exploration success, and reduce the capital intensity of discovery.
Josh Goldmann
President of KoBold Metals
The startup’s investors include the US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, the Norwegian energy giant Equinor, the largest mining group in the world CVand Breakthrough Energy, a climate and technology fund founded by Bill Gates in 2015.
Backers of Breakthrough Energy include Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Jack Ma of Alibaba and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
KoBold Metals is now focusing on advancing its Mingomba project in Zambia, which plans to start producing copper within 10 years, and discovering the next trove of critical minerals, according to Goldman.
“The Central African copper belt is the part of the world where you can find things of this extraordinary level. And that’s why we’re there. The geology is extraordinary,” he said.
“It’s not just that there have been no deposits like this. It’s that there are more to be found. Here’s Mingomba – and then where’s the next Mingomba after this? This is the part of the world and style of deposit where we can find resources of this scale and quality, and Zambia offers a truly extraordinary operating environment,” he added.
Copper is in high demand due to its use in renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage systems and electric vehicles. Zambia is Africa’s second largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The potential for discovery is great”
KoBold Metals said most of the copper currently mined has an ore grade of around 0.6%, while its Mingomba deposit has a copper ore grade above 5%.
“That means you have to mine a lot less rock to get the same amount of copper,” Goldman said.
“For a 0.5% ore deposit, you have to mine 200 kilograms of rock to get 1 kilogram of copper. For a 5% ore deposit, you have to mine 20 kilograms of rock to get 1 kilogram of copper. So, it is a lot less Earth you have to disturb, there’s a lot less waste you create.”
Workers monitor electrolyte baths at the Mufulira refinery, operated by Mopani Copper Mines Plc, in Mufulira, Zambia, Friday, May 6, 2022.
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Goldman said KoBold Metals plans to list shares publicly in the next three to four years.
“We expect that, in due course, being a public company will probably be the best way to finance the business,” he added.
“The purpose of the company is to have serial success in exploration, improve overall exploration success, and decrease the capital intensity of discovery,” Goldman said. “We think the discovery potential is great. There is much more to find in Zambia.”