How Did A.I. Help Discover Millions of Tons of Copper?

A.I. Needs Copper. It Just Helped to Find Millions of Tons of It.

The deposit, in Zambia, could make billions for Silicon Valley, provide minerals for the energy transition and help the United States in its rivalry with China.

An exploration site run by KoBold Metals in Chililabombwe, Zambia, in June. Credit: Zinyange Auntony for The New York Times

Max Bearak reported from Zambia and Silicon Valley. He spoke with coders and geologists, diplomats and local people.

Published July 11, 2024
Updated July 12, 2024, 9:18 a.m. ET

Introduction

Peering into their computer screens in California last year, the data crunchers watched a subterranean fortune come into focus. What they saw transported them 10,000 miles across the world, to Zambia, and then one more mile straight down into the Earth. A rich lode of copper, deep in the bedrock, appeared before them, its contours revealed by a complex A.I.-driven technology they’d been painstakingly building for years.

The Discovery

On Thursday, their company, KoBold Metals, informed its business partners that their find is likely the largest copper discovery in more than a decade. According to their estimates, reviewed by The New York Times, the mine would produce at least 300,000 tons of copper a year once fully operational. That corresponds to a value of billions of dollars a year, for decades.

The New York Times also reviewed an independent, third-party assessment of KoBold’s claims, which, while slightly more conservative than KoBold’s own, largely corroborated the size of the deposit. In a statement, KoBold said it expected the value of the mine to grow because it had yet to map the full extent of its highest-grade ore.

Significance

It’s the first confirmed success for a company that hopes to radically transform the way we find metals critical not only to the tech industry but to the fight against climate change. The geopolitical significance is vast. KoBold’s find comes as the United States and China are increasingly clashing over global access to the minerals needed to manufacture clean-energy technologies.