I think it makes sense that they will look to JV with likeminded companies. Even if given assurances by the DRC Government, it's a big risk to take on. Spreading it with others is more manageable, especially with companies with certain type of mining 'expertise'.Will be interesting to see if BHP wants to be involved as well, they have an existing partnership deal with KoBold to look for battery metals.
BHP signs partnership deal with billionaire-backed AI explorer KoBold
September 8, 20213:26 PM GMT+10Updated 4 years ago
A tonne of nickel powder made by BHP Group sits in a warehouse at its Nickel West division, south of Perth, Australia August 2, 2019. Picture taken August 2, 2019.
REUTERS/Melanie Burton
MELBOURNE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - BHP Group (BHP.AX) will team up with billionaire-backed AI exploration firm KoBold Metals to look for battery minerals like copper and nickel in Australia and other global locations, the companies said on Wednesday.
The world's largest miner is building out its portfolio in what it calls "future facing commodities", expecting demand for electric vehicles and green energy to determine the minerals that will drive profits in coming years.
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Privately held KoBold uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to hunt for raw materials. Its principal investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund backed by Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Bill Gates, Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg and Amazon's (AMZN.O) Jeff Bezos. read more
Miners have been moving towards machine learning to find underground deposits in recent years, leading to some big discoveries, such as Rio Tinto's (RIO.AX) copper project Winu.
"Globally, shallow ore deposits have largely been discovered, and remaining resources are likely deeper underground and harder to see from the surface," said Keenan Jennings, vice-president of BHP Metals Exploration.
"We need new approaches to find the next generation of essential minerals, and this alliance will combine historical data, artificial intelligence, and geoscience expertise to uncover what has previously been hidden," he said.
The alliance will cover an area in Western Australia of more than 500,000 sq km (193,000 sq miles), KoBold CEO Kurt House told Reuters.
"Exploration success rates have been declining over the last couple of decades ... because the easy things have been found," House said.
The discovery zones over the next 20 years will be at depths of 200 m to 1,500 m, he said.
"That’s the area that is very poorly explored (and) is likely to host a tremendous number of ore bodies."
KoBold has a dozen tie-ups across about 20 locations including Sub-Saharan Africa, North America and Australia, looking for copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, House said.
Australia has some of the world's best mapping data for prospective minerals, while its solid regulatory environment also make it an attractive destination, House said.
KoBold, however, said it is closely watching development of a bill to protect Aboriginal heritage in Western Australia. Indigenous groups have protested a draft of the bill because it denies them final say-so over protection of their sacred sites, which could become a governance issue for miners and investors.
KoBold is planning to set up an Australian office in the next 12 months and is looking for other exploration partners.
"Inside the area of interest we are exclusive for BHP, but outside we are open for business.
AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
- Start date
"KoBold also requested the Congolese government be the minority shareholder in any joint venture rather than state-owned Cominiere."Holey moley! BATTLE STATIONS
KoBold Metals Co., backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has told the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo it wants to develop one of the world’s biggest hard rock lithium deposits.
It’s the first major offer by a large US mining company to invest in the central African nation amid early-stage conversations about a potential minerals and security partnership between the two countries.
KoBold, which uses artificial intelligence to explore for materials key to the energy transition, has proposed taking over a sought-after mining license. It also aims to resolve a long-drawn dispute involving Australia’s AVZ Minerals Ltd., China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. and the government, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News.
The spat has held up investment in the Roche Dure resource which could become a major producer of the battery metal.
The deposit “has the potential to become a large-scale, long-lived lithium mine,” KoBold Chief Legal Officer Sandy Alexander wrote in a letter to Congo President Felix Tshisekedi’s chief of staff on Jan. 21. The company “would welcome the opportunity to develop the asset,” he said.
KoBold has more than 70 exploration projects around the world and is developing the Mingomba copper mine in neighboring Zambia, it said in the letter.
Read more: Congo Courts Trump for Strategic Minerals Tie-Up as War Looms
The offer came shortly before Tshisekedi proposed a minerals-for-security deal with US President Donald Trump’s administration. Congo’s government is struggling to contain a Rwanda-backed rebellion in its mineral-rich eastern provinces.
Read more: Rwanda-Backed Rebels Expand Control of Congo Despite Ceasefire
Zijin intends to open Congo’s first lithium mine in early 2026, next to the area targeted by KoBold. Even though lithium prices have tumbled more than 80% since a peak in 2022, Chinese firms have been ramping up output across Africa, locking down feedstock for refineries at home in anticipation of soaring future demand.
https://archive.is/o/ksIh3/https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions
AVZ was close to breaking ground on the project when Congo canceled its rights in 2023 and split the permit, handing one part to Zijin. KoBold’s proposal could settle the multiple arbitration cases filed in the aftermath, unlocking one of the world’s richest untapped sources of lithium, a crucial material used in electric-vehicle batteries. The Australian firm is trying to recover the entire exploration license.
KoBold said that to advance the plan AVZ would need to receive “appropriate compensation” and agree to transfer all its interests in Congo. Once all disputes are resolved, Zijin would keep the northern section of the deposit, and the US company would develop the southern portion.
KoBold also requested the Congolese government be the minority shareholder in any joint venture rather than state-owned Cominiere, AVZ’s partner before the relationship soured.
AVZ Chief Executive Officer Nigel Ferguson and one of the company’s external lawyers were copied on the letter addressed to Anthony Nkinzo, who serves as Tshisekedi’s chief of staff.
KoBold declined to comment but confirmed it sent the letter. AVZ declined to comment, while Zijin and Nkinzo did not respond to messages requesting comment.
Any takeover by KoBold would have to address a separate deal AVZ has with China’s Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies, which is co-owned by the world’s biggest EV battery maker and is helping fund the Australian firm during the arbitration proceedings.
Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg News’s parent Bloomberg LP, is an investor in Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, which holds a stake in KoBold, according to the company’s website.
Celestine Kibeya just got bitch slapped . Lets hope he goes missing in croc infested waters .
Let me know if there's anything else you need me to test
For me I think it's key that Kobold had been looking at the core library back around October/November so this has been in the works for awhile, even before Trump. They don't have the cash themselves for a buyout so not sure what the arrangement will be or the JVs in place.
My guess is that it will be within range of the arbitration claims +-30%
Bustedplugga
Observer
I might be wrong but I think kobold is privately owned?
Spikerama
Regular
Just use this one for now JAG. It works on Desktop. Still need to work on the story text but I'm fried. Spent two days & nights on this.
AVZ vs DRC @ ICSID - Final Countdown
Countdown to the ICSID tribunal of AVZ vs DRC (Congolese).
avz-icsid-final-countdown.netlify.app
Correct. CATL knows Trump wants them out so nothing short of a killer bid can save them IMO.
Yet it might be even too late for that given the way the geopolitical dynamic has dramatically shifted with the arrival of Trump lol.
Xi is smarting after losing the Panama ports to Blackrock and the Taiwanese chipmaker to Arizona.
Now the prospect of losing a resource like Manono/RD in quick succession is a personal setback and comes on top of emerging reports he has lost command of the PLA.
As you say, your move Panda boy.
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Kobold is not here to fuk around.
They know CATH has their fingers in the pie already, and had $$ to back it.
Kobold isn't going to make a half-arsed attempt to take this over just to see how it goes. A few here have already suggested ICC claim amount as a minimum threshold and I think that's probably right. I would expect a bit more just to hammer home the certainty of it and preempt any attempts from CATH to step in.
But fk me, what a way to finish the week.
Fingers crossed we're entering the final chapter of this shit-show saga.
Stay strong folks and have a good weekend.
They know CATH has their fingers in the pie already, and had $$ to back it.
Kobold isn't going to make a half-arsed attempt to take this over just to see how it goes. A few here have already suggested ICC claim amount as a minimum threshold and I think that's probably right. I would expect a bit more just to hammer home the certainty of it and preempt any attempts from CATH to step in.
But fk me, what a way to finish the week.
Fingers crossed we're entering the final chapter of this shit-show saga.
Stay strong folks and have a good weekend.
While I’d love to see a bidding war between CATL and KOBOLD metals- can’t help but feel the crit minerals deal for security is contingent on the US receiving the rights to south manono. I don’t think even a fair bid by China would be acceptable in this multiple moving parts type deal. Almost feels like geopolitically it’ll have to be a US firm that takes over.Correct. CATL knows Trump wants them out so nothing short of a killer bid can save them IMO.
Yet it might be even too late for that given the way the geopolitical dynamic has dramatically shifted with the arrival of Trump lol.
Xi is smarting after losing the Panama ports to Blackrock and the Taiwanese chipmaker to Arizona.
Now the prospect of losing a resource like Manono/RD in quick succession is a personal setback and comes on top of emerging reports he has lost command of the PLA.
As you say, your move Panda boy.
I’m still optimistic we’ll get a fair price - the 6bn++ odd damages noted by nige should hopefully be the floor in all this!
Other thought's on pricing -
If they're letting Zijin keep the North, and this deal wraps up all the ongoing arbitration shit, AVZ isn't going to accept a deal where we walk away getting LESS out of it than Zijin.
Gonna try really hard not to post ramble but this is exciting news. Maybe time to log off and go do something else for a bit
If they're letting Zijin keep the North, and this deal wraps up all the ongoing arbitration shit, AVZ isn't going to accept a deal where we walk away getting LESS out of it than Zijin.
Gonna try really hard not to post ramble
but this is exciting news. Maybe time to log off and go do something else for a bitSimilar threads
