KoBold Metals raises US$537 million in Series C funding
AI-based mining company KoBold Metals announced it raised US$537 million in Series C funding at a US$2.96 billion valuation. The lead investors in this round were Durable Capital Partners LP and T. Rowe Price. There was also participation by Andreessen Horowitz Growth, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi, StepStone Group, and WCM Investment Management.
With this round of funding, KoBold has raised a total of US$1 billion. And the funding will be used for advancing its exploration technology and enhancing its R&D.
Using AI, KoBold locates minerals like copper, lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The company taps into data sources like satellite images and drilling reports to predict where there could be more sources of minerals. With this technology, KoBold found a copper deposit in Zambia’s Copperbelt area.
Back in February, KoBold said it was planning to set up a new mine at the Mingomba project in Zambia as part of a ten-year project, but this was accelerated due to high demand. The Mingomba deposit is reportedly believed to have copper ore grades of around 5%. And this ore body quality could make Mingomba the highest-grade Zambian discovery in 100 years.
The company has also been aggressively signing several partnerships to support the Mingomba project. In October, KoBold signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), committing to anchor the commercial viability of a Zambia-Lobito rail project with over 300,000 tons of copper per year from its Mingomba mine. And AFC will collaborate with KoBold to support the Mingomba project, through a combination of project development funding, equity, or debt financing as required.
