Esper Satellite Imagery and KorrAI announce strategic partnership for commercialising hyperspectral imagery for the mining sector
Critical minerals are integral to the green energy transition. Lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, uranium, and rare earths will see a 40X increase in demand this decade, and the mining industry urgently needs ways to find and extract these deposits faster while reinforcing their environmentally accountability. Emerging technologies such as geospatial AI, smart field data collection, and digitalized geological interpretation will play a significant role in providing the industry with a competitive advantage in meeting mineral production demand over the next decade.
High resolution Earth Observation (EO) data is an important piece of the puzzle for accelerating early mineral exploration by mapping deposits, as well as monitoring mining activities during the production and closure phases of the mining lifecycle.
KorrAI is developing a holistic solution by combining field-level internet of things (IoT) and remote EO data to de-risk mining operations and accelerate the digital transformation of mining technologies.
“Through the partnership, Esper would provide the raw multispectral and hyper spectral imagery to KorrAI, which will integrate associated critical mineral signatures with subsurface seismic modelling and artificial intelligence to further refine mineral targets, “says Rahul Anand, CEO of KorrAI
During mining operations and closure, KorrAI will use Esper data to streamline ESG reporting for project stakeholders and communities, enabling more accurate monitoring of biodiversity, geotechnical and environmental risk factors.
Esper’s hyperspectral EO sensors go beyond current solutions by providing a very high spectral resolution with a broader frequency range. Data captured using Esper’s spectral processing technology aims to fulfil data gaps in the industry. This further increases the quality of results delivered through Esper’s and KorrAI’s technology.
“The mining industry has been a part of humanity’s critical infrastructure but has also been an industry with significant environmental impact. We’re looking to work with our partners at KorrAI to utilise our imagery data and sensor infrastructure to reduce these impacts while aiding in the delivery of minerals needed to further our transition to greener technologies.”, says Shoaib Iqbal, CEO of Esper Satellite Imagery.
About KorrAI
Founded in Halifax in 2021, KorrAI is a YC-backed startup that develops digital technologies for the global natural resources sector. We integrate satellite data, on-site measurements, IoT, and AI to help companies’ de-risk their operations, improve efficiency, and provide transparent environmental reporting.
About Esper
Esper, founded in 2019, is a Melbourne-based startup building space-based hyperspectral sensors for earth observation to track climate metrics such as carbon emissions and carbon sinks for Oil and Gas, Agriculture, Mining and many other industries utilising their proprietary sensor technology. Esper, with a mission to track 5B tons of carbon emissions annually, will launch their first pair of sensors in May of 2023. Dubbed as 'Over The Rainbow' mission, it will be followed by a larger sensor network of 18 sensors in orbit. You can read more about Esper here.