Greenland’s melting ice is sparking covetousness for the raw materials beneath. A group of billionaires is backing a company they hope will find rare minerals under the ice, Insider reports. The group includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The raw materials will be used to build electric cars and renewable batteries.
The company in question is KoBold Metals, an AI-powered mineral exploration startup. A spokesperson for KoBold Metals told Business Insider they are searching for one of the world’s largest and most significant nickel and cobalt deposits.
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A team of 30 people, including geologists, geophysicists, and pilots, is exploring Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula, where the minerals and metals for the batteries and electric vehicles are believed to be in the hills and valleys.
It could potentially power 100 million electric cars. KoBold is working with Bluejay Mining on the exploration, Insider added.
The KoBold spokesperson noted:
“The full electrification of the global economy is the biggest challenge of our generation. Partnering with this broad range of world-class investors will accelerate our efforts to find the key materials for the electric vehicle revolution.”
According to CNN, the team is using AI in Greenland to find drilling areas, which can begin next summer. The team is also taking soil samples and using drones and helicopters to study the layers below the surface.
“It is worrying to see the consequences and effects of climate change on Greenland. But in general, these changes have made exploration and mining in Greenland easier and more accessible,” Bo Møller Stensgaard, CEO of Bluejay Mining, told CNN.
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