Bezos and Gates-backed KoBold Metals to drill for EV critical minerals in Greenland
Greenland is believed highly prospective for critical battery and electric vehicle metals.
Heavily supported by billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, exploration company KoBold Metals will start drilling in western Greenland later this year for minerals critical to electric vehicles (EVs), including nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals.
In exploring for EV critical minerals in Greenland, KoBold Metals has partnered with London AIM-listed Bluejay Mining.
The duo is advancing the Disko-Nuussuaq (Disko) magmatic massive sulphide nickel-copper-PGM-cobalt project in south-western Greenland.
Bluejay chief executive officer Dr Møller Stensgaard said the search will be extensive, with exploration to begin in the June quarter.
“The objective is to target massive nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals.”
“We hope to bring the world’s attention to the significant potential that Disko has, namely as a significant global supplier of many of the key metals required for the green energy transition, from a secure western jurisdiction,” he said.
Cutting edge technology
KoBold has secured a 51% interest in the project and the joint venture plans to use “cutting edge technology” including fixed-wing, helicopter and drone supported geophysical surveys to identify anomalies.
A drone magnetic survey will cover 3,000-line kilometres followed by 3,000m of diamond drilling to depths of between 150m and 400m.
Further airborne, gravity and electromagnetic surveys will be completed along with soil sampling.
Mr Stensgaard said the field program will collect “new high-quality data from cutting-edge geophysical and geochemical data sets”.
He added that KoBold’s platform and algorithms will provide “a higher degree of confidence in targeting”.
“I’m confident that we are on the cusp of discovering a new nickel, copper, cobalt and PGM district in west Greenland.”
Nickel critical to EVs
In the midst of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the price of nickel, used in making electric vehicles, could continue to skyrocket as fears are raised over Russian supplies being cut off to the rest of the world.
As it stands currently, Russia supplies almost 10% of the world’s nickel.
Blue Jay mining predicts its operations may be home to a significant deposit of minerals similar to those found in Norilsk, Russia which hosts the world’s largest nickel and copper sulphide mine.
Electrifying the economy a priority
Just last month, KoBold raised US$192.5 million, which will go towards exploring for battery metals, with electrifying the future a top priority in achieving net zero targets.
Contributors towards the raising included BHP Group (ASX: BHP) and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board as well as a number of other investors.
KoBold’s chief executive officer Kurt House says electrifying the global economy is a challenge that is in front of us all.
“Fully electrifying the global economy is our generation’s greatest challenge.”
“To accomplish that lofty goal, we must accelerate our efforts to find the key materials for the electric vehicle revolution,” he said.
A general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, an American venture capital firm, says KoBold aims to build “a google maps for the earth’s crust.”
“It’s very much just a different approach to mining; a long-term, science-driven way to mine,” Chan said.
It’s also reported that KoBold isn’t stopping there, with its sights set on future exploration projects in the US, Australia, Greenland and Zambia.
Rare earth elements in Greenland
Rare earth elements are also critical to EVs and renewable energies that will allow the world to transition to net zero.
Earlier this month Eclipse Metals (ASX: EPM) revealed lab results from its 2021 program confirming silver, tin, lithium and zinc were all discovered in southwestern Greenland.
Eclipse is now turning its attention to evaluating the rare earth and multi-element potential at its Ivittuut project, with a focus on the Gornnedal-Ika and Ivigtut prospects.
The company will use historic data to generate targets at Ivigtut and create a 3D model of historic electromagnetic and radiometric data over Gronnedal-Ika.
With KoBold Metals being heavily backed to commence drilling in Greenland near to Eclipse, there is the potential for greater investor interest to be generated in the vicinity.