VerAI’s technology shows an improvement of two orders of magnitude at identifying viable target locations for strategically critical metals, and is significantly faster and less expensive than traditional methods;
Technology is already being utilized to build mineral asset portfolios in key markets, including the US, Canada, Peru, and Chile
BOSTON – March 2, 2023 – VerAI Discoveries, an innovative, AI-based mineral asset generator that significantly improves the probability of finding vital metal deposits critical to the current and future economy, today announced it completed a $12M Series A funding round, including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and other investors Orion Resource Partners, Chrysalix Venture Capital, and Blumberg Capital.
This funding comes amidst exponentially increasing global demand for many metals that are critical to global electrification, including copper, cobalt, lithium, and nickel. Operable across the vast under-explored areas of covered terrain, VerAI’s targeting capabilities evolve the deposit identification success rates by two orders of magnitude while being more than 20x less expensive than traditional, human-centric techniques, and delivering a 20x faster generation in mineral targets.
“There are no longer ‘easy’ discoveries when it comes to mining, as the vast majority of remaining ore deposits are concealed under vast covered terrain. Historically, covered terrain is challenging human exploration techniques, meaning a massive range of opportunities is being missed,” said Yair Frastai, CEO and co-founder at VerAI. “Our AI-driven approach, which leverages machine learning searching capabilities in magnetic, gravimetric, electromagnetic, and seismic data, means we can see what humans cannot, thus enabling our partners to discover at a much higher rate of success, create significant value in a much shorter period of time and bring vital materials into the market.”
The global energy transition requires enormous quantities of metals to sustain the development of both current and future technologies. Traditional exploration and discovery methods rely on human interpretation and are not capable of meeting these demands. As many governments impose stricter regulations on combustion vehicles and the well-reported demand for electric vehicles continues to increase, manufacturers face growing shortages of cobalt and lithium, among others. These shortages can have a waterfall effect by impacting the supply chain and increasing the price consumers can expect to pay to acquire EVs.
VerAI uses its technology to develop targets indicating where valuable minerals exist and then secures partners to further explore, discover, and ultimately extract those materials from the earth.
“VerAI’s innovative approach and business model positions it to rapidly scale,” said Mark Frayman, Managing Partner at Orion Industrial Ventures, the venture capital group within Orion Resources Partners.“ VerAI could increase the probability of discovering new deposits for their exploration partners, while also reducing exploration costs and associated risk. We are excited by the opportunity this presents for both VerAI and the sector.”
This year, VerAI plans to bring to market new asset portfolios in Chile, Arizona, Nevada, Ontario, and Peru. These portfolios will include high-probability targets of lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, gold, silver, and molybdenum. Next week, VerAI’s leadership team will attend PDAC 2023, the world’s premier mineral exploration and mining conference, taking place March 5-8 in Toronto, Canada.
About VerAI Discoveries
VerAI Discoveries is an innovative, AI-based mineral asset generator that disrupts the mineral exploration industry by dramatically improving the probability of discovering critically needed mineral deposits. With VerAI’s AI-driven approach, which incorporates machine learning searching capabilities in magnetic, gravimetric, electromagnetic, and seismic data, previously concealed mineral deposits can now be detected at a rate two orders of magnitude more effectively than human-centric techniques. With its deep partner ecosystem, VerAI accelerates the ability to leverage these vital mineral deposits to help lead the green-energy transition into a more sustainable future. For more information, visit https://ver-ai.com/
Press Contact:
Christine Penwell
SHIFT Communications
cpenwell@shiftcomm.com