- Earth AI uses AI to identify critical mineral deposits in overlooked Australian regions.
- A startup developed proprietary drilling equipment to validate its predictions.
- The technology aims to dramatically reduce mineral exploration time from decades to months.
In a breakthrough for mineral exploration, Earth AI has identified promising deposits of critical minerals in two Australian regions that have been overlooked by traditional mining companies for decades.
The startup, founded by Ukrainian-born Roman Teslyuk during his graduate studies at the University of Sydney, is using artificial intelligence to revolutionize how and where minerals are discovered.
The company has pinpointed deposits of copper, cobalt, and gold in the Northern Territory, and silver, molybdenum, and tin in New South Wales.
Teslyuk believes the real frontier in mining is technological rather than geographical, drawing on decades of geological data collected by the Australian government since the 1970s.
When traditional mining companies showed hesitation about the AI-powered predictions, Earth AI took an unconventional step: developing its drilling equipment to validate its findings.
The startup was accepted to Y Combinator's 2019 cohort and recently raised $20 million in Series B funding, underscoring the potential of its innovative approach.
"The way we used to explore for metals in the past, it just takes very, very long," Teslyuk explained. "With the modern pace of the world, you just can't wait for that long."
Edited by Annette George
