Tag Archives: ExoSphere

Rio Tinto leveraging Fleet Space exploration tech at Rincon lithium project

Energy minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining services, , , ,

Fleet Space Technologies has announced an ongoing collaboration with Rio Tinto to advance exploration at its Rincon lithium project in Argentina.

Leveraging Fleet Space’s end-to-end exploration solution powered by space and AI, ExoSphere, Rio Tinto will develop 3D subsurface maps of the reservoir, basement depth, and brine influencing structures across 100 sq.km of the project’s salt flat and nearby subvolcanic structures.

“Rio Tinto and Fleet Space share a commitment to pioneering breakthrough technologies to make net-zero a reality,” Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-Founder & CEO of Fleet Space Technologies, says. “We are proud to deploy ExoSphere’s real-time multiphysics capabilities in support of Rio Tinto’s data-driven exploration for energy transition minerals. We look forward to bringing the latest innovations in spacetech, 3D multiphysics, and AI to unlock new insights, predictive capabilities, and sustainability benefits to advance the development of world-class operations globally.”

The Rincon lithium project represents a significant potential source of battery-grade lithium carbonate necessary for the global energy transition. Rio Tinto’s deployment of Exosphere at scale across the project reflects its commitment to using innovative technologies to enhance exploration, decarbonise value chains and develop the Rincon lithium project to the highest ESG standards, Fleet Space says.

ExoSphere’s end-to-end capabilities enable real-time 3D Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) data acquisition and processing by Fleet Space’s satellite network to deliver actionable 3D subsurface insights in days with near-zero environmental impact.

The end-to-end architecture pioneered by Fleet Space’s mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, integrates the latest advances in space technology, 3D multiphysics and AI to map mineral systems in real-time. Edge computing in ExoSphere’s smart seismic sensors enable real-time transmission and processing of high-quality 3D data by Fleet Space’s satellite network, delivering actionable 3D subsurface insights up to 5 km in depth and targeting recommendations to customers around the world.

By streamlining data acquisition, processing, integration and delivery of AI-enabled 3D insights into a single end-to-end solution, ExoSphere simplifies data operations, enhances the quality and speed of decision making and helps to minimise environmental footprint across the lifecycle of a project, the company says.

Fleet Space’s ExoSphere tech on the search for subsurface exploration targets in Canada’s Athabasca Basin

Energy minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining services, , , , , ,

Through an expanded deployment of Fleet Space’s end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, IsoEnergy completed surveys of highly prospective and minimally explored areas at its Larocque East project near the  Hurricane uranium deposit in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, the technology company says.

The real-time 3D subsurface imaging capabilities of ExoSphere identified six new high-priority targets on strike with the Hurricane deposit east of the project. IsoEnergy’s summer exploration program focused on drilling targets defined by ExoSphere in 2023, which confirmed an extension of a hydrothermal system on strike with Hurricane as well as alteration and structural disruption consistent with potential uranium mineralisation. These new findings have led IsoEnergy to prioritise the new targets identified by ExoSphere as part of their ongoing summer program and accelerate exploration of the site.

“ExoSphere’s proprietary end-to-end technology stack – combining powerful advances in space technology, 3D multiphysics, and AI – is driving a paradigm shift in the global exploration landscape,” Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO & Co-Founder of Fleet Space, says. “The cross-scale insights and enhanced targeting enabled by ExoSphere’s real-time 3D imaging have redefined the untapped potential of Canada’s Athabasca Basin, enabling IsoEnergy to deploy resources toward opportunities faster while minimising environmental impact. We are excited to partner with exploration leaders in the Athabasca Basin to streamline their exploration journey with next-level insights and precision needed to rapidly narrow the search space and realise the potential of Canada’s premiere uranium-producing region.”

Home to the highest-grade and largest uranium mines, such as McArthur River and Cigar Lake, the Athabasca Basin in Canada’s Northern Saskatchewan provides nearly 20% of the world’s supply of uranium. Only 40 km away from the McClean Lake Mill, IsoEnergy’s Larocque East property is within the Hurricane Zone, which contains the world’s largest indicated uranium mineral resource. IsoEnergy has positioned itself to be a near-term uranium producer, progressing its exploration under the harsh conditions, rugged terrain, seasonality and remote location of its project in the Athabasca Basin with highly scalable and rapidly deployable exploration techniques to drive results in line with Canada’s regulatory framework and ESG objectives. This led IsoEnergy to use the real-time 3D imaging of ExoSphere at the Larocque East project to enhance their geological understanding of the area and determine potential targets.

Dr Darryl Clark, Executive Vice President of Exploration and Development at IsoEnergy, says: “ExoSphere’s real-time imaging and targeting capabilities have been critical technologies during our Winter and Summer exploration programs. Drilling results from the initial targets generated by ExoSphere confirmed strong hydrothermal alteration and potential uranium mineralisation – validating the potential of ExoSphere to significantly enhance targeting and reduce time to discovery at scale. The predictive and real-time capabilities enabled by ExoSphere have played a vital role in helping us accelerate our exploration program by identifying targets faster and more sustainably, underscoring the residual prospectivity and untapped potential at the Larocque East project.”

ExoSphere’s deployments in the Athabasca Basin with IsoEnergy builds on the rapid global adoption for Fleet Space’s solution among top exploration companies around the world. Barrick Gold recently used ExoSphere across 1,150 sq.km of its Reko Diq project in Pakistan to generate 3D subsurface maps of copper porphyry complexes for multiple zones of interest. Encompassing over 1,818 sq.km of projects in Australia’s premiere copper province, Fleet Space also conducted the world’s largest real-time ambient noise tomography survey across Inflection Resources’ tenements in the Macquarie Arc. Fleet Space also helped identify multiple previously unknown large-scale targets for Eagle Mountain at its Silver Mountain project in Arizona within the Laramide Arc.

Harnessing Fleet Space’s satellite constellation, smart seismic sensors and AI engine, ExoSphere integrates data acquisition, processing, interpretation, and targeting into a single end-to-end solution. By delivering real-time 3D imaging and AI-enhanced targeting insights, ExoSphere optimises the speed and precision of data-driven decision making, unlocking more efficient and sustainable outcomes across the exploration lifecycle, the company says.

Power Nickel enlists the help of Fleet Space’s ExoSphere tech for Chile exploration

Base metals, Mineral exploration, Mining services,

Power Nickel, one of Canada’s leading metal exploration companies, has expanded its use of Fleet Space’s end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, to drive new geological understanding of its projects along Chile’s Atacama Fault System.

With deployments across Power Nickel’s Zulema, Palo Negro and Tierra de Oro projects, ExoSphere identified significant faulting in all three areas in addition to new insights about geological structures and geophysical anomalies in the region. The results have enhanced Power Nickel’s targeting with extensive 3D mapping of their properties in the heart of Chile’s Atacama Desert, Fleet Space says.

“Deployments of ExoSphere in Chile’s copper belt and the world’s most prolific copper producing regions is yielding compounding geological insight into the mineral systems that underpin the formation of these deposits,” Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO & Co-Founder of Fleet Space Technologies, said. “The speed, depth and cross-scale capability of ExoSphere’s real-time 3D subsurface imaging is not only enhancing the geological understanding of major copper regions in isolation, but also the commonalities between them. This is rapidly accelerating mineral systems knowledge and delivering a more holistic geological context needed to scale and enhance the success rates of data-driven copper exploration globally.”

Power Nickel’s development of its NISK project in Quebec, Canada, has paved the way for the company to apply similar strategies, operations and advanced technologies to unlock the exploration potential of 50,000 acres (20,234 ha) of the company’s projects across Chile’s copper belt. On their journey to build the NISK project into the world’s first carbon-neutral polymetallic mine, Power Nickel maintains a rigorous standard for the exploration techniques it deploys, ensuring they align with the company’s ESG charter and ambitious exploration timelines. This led the company to use the real-time 3D mapping capabilities of ExoSphere at NISK to enhance exploration outcomes and unlock sustainability benefits across their operation, identifying several new targets as a result.

“The simplified end-to-end data journey enabled by ExoSphere’s real-time 3D subsurface data acquisition, satellite-enabled data processing and rapid delivery of targeting insights has taken our data-driven exploration strategies to new heights while also delivering more sustainable outcomes pivotal to our company’s mission,” Power Nickel CEO, Terry Lynch, says. “Learning from our deployments at NISK, we are applying these powerful new technologies to unlock efficiencies and identify targets at unprecedented speed, scale, and depth across our Chile portfolio to stay at the forefront of advances in global copper exploration.”

Power Nickel and Fleet Space understand the fundamental role of mineral systems thinking and structural architecture in copper exploration, they say.

ExoSphere’s unique ability to image structures from the large-scale to the tenement and deposit-scale in 3D makes it highly useful for mapping crustal architecture: a critical part of all copper exploration programs, Fleet Space says.

The deployment of ExoSphere on Power Nickel’s projects in Chile builds on the rapid global adoption for Fleet Space’s solution among top exploration companies operating in many of the world’s leading copper regions.

Fleet Space’s ExoSphere solution to be deployed at Eagle Mountain’s Silver Mountain project

Base metals, Mineral exploration, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , ,

Fleet Space Technologies, Australia’s leading space exploration company, has deployed its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, to enhance Eagle Mountain’s data-driven copper exploration at its Silver Mountain project in Arizona, USA.

Leveraging ExoSphere’s real-time 3D subsurface mapping capabilities, powered by space technology and artificial intelligence, Eagle Mountain uncovered new insights that underscore the potential for large mineralised systems and identified multiple unknown targets at Silver Mountain, according to ExoSphere.

“We’re proud to deploy ExoSphere to accelerate the geological understanding of the United States’ premiere copper producing region and drive more sustainable outcomes across the exploration value chain,” Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-Founder & CEO of Fleet Space, said. “Space, 3D multiphysics, and AI are vital technologies that can make US efforts to strengthen its domestic critical mineral supply chain faster and more scalable, while minimising environmental footprint. We’re thrilled to bring the latest advances in these technologies and Fleet Space’s deep expertise from the forefront of copper exploration globally to deliver unparalleled geological insights that further America’s ambitions in AI, electrification, and clean energy technologies.”

Eagle Mountain is a leading copper explorer committed to building its Oracle Ridge copper mine and Silver Mountain project into low-emission sources of high-grade copper production to supply the demand for green energy, Fleet Space saya. Located in the second largest copper porphyry province on Earth, its Silver Mountain project sits on the Laramide Arc, a geological feature connected to the eastern half of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes several of the world’s largest copper discoveries such as Bagdad, Miami and Resolution.

Due to complications resulting from complex sediment cover, several geophysical techniques were unable to reliably pinpoint deeper targets at the Silver Mountain project. This led Eagle Mountain to deploy Fleet Space’s ExoSphere solution, to generate high-resolution 3D imaging of their target zones up to 2.5 km in depth. The subsurface insights delivered by ExoSphere revealed new indicators of large-scale mineralised systems – identifying deep porphyry-style targets and surrounding alteration zones, vital features for defining potential mineralising fluid and heat sources deep undercover.

The survey also enhanced Eagle Mountain’s understanding of regional structures, such as the Breakaway Fault system running NNW-SSE in the Scarlett area, delivering new findings about structures thought to be controlling mineralisation in the region. Velocity zones consistent with porphyry-style intrusions were also found, identifying previously unknown large-scale targets in the project’s unexplored western target zone. As a result of the new findings, Eagle Mountain shifted Silver Mountain to a top priority, accelerating its exploration activities at the site.

“The real-time 3D imaging capabilities of Fleet Space’s end-to-end solution, ExoSphere, helped us rapidly enhance our geological understanding of the Silver Mountain project, reduce uncertainty and deliver multiple high-priority targets for further exploration,” Tim Mason, CEO of Eagle Mountain, said. “The insights we gained from the ExoSphere survey have unlocked the geological potential of our Silver Mountain project, solidifying its place in our exploration strategy moving forward.”

Fleet Space’s first deployment of ExoSphere in America’s leading copper producing region in Arizona builds on the soaring global adoption of the end-to-end solution among leading copper producers and exploration companies. Barrick Gold recently used ExoSphere to generate 3D subsurface maps of copper porphyry complexes for multiple zones of interest across 1,150 sq.km of its Reko Diq project in Pakistan.

Fleet Space also conducted the world’s largest real-time Ambient Noise Tomography survey across Australia’s premiere copper-porphyry province – the Macquarie Arc – encompassing over 1,818 sq.km of Inflection Resource’s projects in the region.

Powered by Fleet Space’s proprietary satellite constellation, smart seismic sensors and AI, ExoSphere radically streamlines data acquisition, processing, integration and insight delivery into a single end-to-end solution, it says.

Fleet Space’s ExoSphere mineral exploration platform to receive Centauri-6 satellite boost

Communications in mining, Mineral exploration, Mining services, , , , ,

Fleet Space Technologies, a leading Australian space exploration company, has announced the successful deployment of its next-generation Centauri-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 mission, bolstering its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere.

The satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The addition of Centauri-6 to Fleet Space’s satellite constellation will play a vital role in servicing the global demand for ExoSphere, while also building capacity to deliver advanced SATCOM capabilities with microsatellite architectures.

The successful launch of Centauri-6 is the latest development from Fleet Space after a period of exponential growth and innovative breakthroughs unlocking new capabilities in the global space sector, it says.

Rapid global adoption of Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, has been the catalyst behind the company’s sustained innovation in space technologies and growth over the past year. Over 40 exploration companies – including Rio Tinto, Core Lithium and Barrick Gold – have used the technology to complete 300-plus surveys for a variety of critical minerals across five continents, according to the company.

“Humanity’s expanding satellite infrastructure is rapidly unlocking new capabilities that can help to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet,” Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-Founder and CEO of Fleet Space, said. “At current rates of mineral discoveries and production, our net-zero goals and clean energy future are unattainable in the coming decades. Leveraging the latest advances in space technology, AI, and geophysics – Fleet Space is demonstrating a path to accelerate mineral exploration in a more data-driven, scalable and sustainable way. Centauri-6 is a portal into a future of efficient, mass-scale satellite manufacturing that can unlock previously unimaginable satellite-enabled solutions to hard problems on Earth.”

Centauri-6 has been designed with multiple upgrades to optimise the resilience and durability of the satellite while also enhancing the overall capacity of Fleet Space’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to support the growing demand for ExoSphere, the company says. Centauri-6 has greater uplink capacity and redundancy, enabling more resilient data transfer from Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled seismic sensors on the ground. The satellite has also been designed with an ion electric propulsion system powered by solar panels to provide thrust in the vacuum of space. Centauri-6’s design also leverages 3D-printed components – including the 3D-printed metal patch antenna Fleet Space pioneered on earlier Centauri satellites.

Matt Pearson, co-Founder and Chief Exploration Officer at Fleet Space, said: “Innovation in microsatellite architectures is advancing at an unprecedented rate, unlocking new capabilities across sectors at scale. The reprogrammability of our Centauri satellites enables in-orbit software updates that can deliver all-new capabilities, as we recently demonstrated with Centauri-4 – making it the world’s smallest known voice-enabled satellite. This marks a significant leap forward in the history of spacecraft – making a future with more energy-efficient, high-performing, flexible, and resilient microsatellite infrastructure within reach for the global space sector.”

ExoSphere, Fleet Space’s flagship mineral exploration technology, combines the latest advances in satellite connectivity, edge computing, AI and geophysics to deliver 3D subsurface models of a survey area in days with near-zero environmental impact. To generate the 3D models, Fleet Space’s patented satellite-enabled seismic sensors – called Geodes – are distributed into an array across a survey area, then the data is transmitted and processed by Fleet Space’s satellite constellation in LEO, providing near real-time access to survey results for exploration customers around the world, the company claims. Traditionally, seismic data acquisition and processing has taken months or years before it can be used as part of an exploration campaign. By delivering 3D subsurface models up to a depth of 2.5km in days, Fleet Space is radically reducing the time and resources needed to accelerate mineral discovery in support of the clean energy transition.