KoBold Metals is a startup which is backed up by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos is bullish on the discovery potential of some of the most sought-after energy transition metals. The Silicon Valley based company announced the discovery of one of the rare copper deposits in Zambia. Josh Goldman president of KoBold metals issued a statement that it was good news for the firm’s investors particularly when the mining industry is struggling to keep pace with metals-intensive energy transition.

Goldman via video-conference further added “They are feeling delighted about this news because this is what we set out to do. The point of the company is to discover, find and develop mineral resources that we need for the energy transition.” He further quoted “This is the first major win for the company, and it is among the most extraordinary ore bodies in the world.” Artificial Intelligence is used by KoBold to create a treasure map to help find new deposits of materials such as copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium.” The company has more than 60 exploratory projects worldwide.

The startup is funded by U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Norwegian energy giant Equinor, the world’s largest mining group BHP, and Breakthrough Energy, a climate and technology fund founded by Bill Gates in 2015. Breakthrough Energy is backed Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Virgin Group’s Richard Branson, Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The company is advancing its Mingomba project in Zambia, which it expects to start producing copper within 10 years, and discovering the next trove of critical minerals.

Copper is in high demand today due to its use in renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage systems and electric vehicles. Zambia is the second largest producer of Copper after Democratic Republic of Congo. Further information revealed by KoBold Metals said that most copper currently being mined has an ore grade of around 0.6%, whereas its Mingomba deposit has copper ore grades of more than 5%.

The President of KoBold Metals further added “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, that’s a lot less Earth that you have to disturb, that’s a lot less waste that you create.” A kilogram equals to about 2.2 pounds.