A US-based mineral exploration company finally has the equipment to start drilling for nickel, which is used in electric vehicles. The company has been spurred by skyrocketing prices from sanctions on Russia.
BluJay Mining was acquired by Total last year, and together they plan to drill a deep shaft in Greenland next year so that the metal can be located. The miners estimate that this hole will be 3,000 meters deep.
KoBold Metals, which is backed by billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has signed an agreement with Bluejay Mining to explore Greenland for minerals used in electric vehicles.
The privately-held company, KoBold, is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and other investors from industry giants. These investors include Microsoft’s founders Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, with Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos and Ray Dalio of the largest hedge fund on the planet, Bridgewater Associates.
KoBold is using AI to find raw resources using cloud computing and is backed by several billionaires. The company has said their goal is to “fully electrify the global economy” and start a “electric vehicle revolution.”
“The objective is to target massive nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals,” “The recent unfortunate geopolitical developments clearly show that the Western world needs new deposits of these critical metals,” Bluejay CEO Bo Stensgaard told Reuters.
Previous studies have shown that the area in western Greenland has similarities to the geology in Russia’s Norilsk region, a main producer of nickel and palladium; BlueJay said.
