Calgary-based GeologicAI has raised a US$44 million Series B round led by Swiss impact investor Blue Earth Capital, with participation from mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto, as well as Bill Gates’ cleantech fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Previous investor Export Development Canada also participated in the raise, chief executive Grant Sanden said in an interview.

The company uses AI robotics technology to photograph and analyze rocks for underground resource exploration. Its technology relies on high-resolution images and data to increase the precision with which it can scan samples, according to a press release.   

“The world right now is in a critical metals crisis, because we have this spiking demand for electrification,” Sanden said. “[For] this new AI data centre push . . . alarming volumes of metals are being required for this transition.” It takes 17 years for the average mine to get into production, Sanden said, and GeologicAI is looking to accelerate that through its technology. 

GeologicAI counts some of the world’s largest mining companies among its customers, including U.S.-based Newmont, Anglo American, and BHP, according to its website. It plans to use the new capital to expand its operations across all continents except Antarctica by the end of the year. The company currently has offices across Canada and one in Santiago, Chile, with plans to open offices in Denver, Colorado and Australia, Sanden said. It has nearly 250 employees globally and will use some of the funding to expand its workforce, too.

“We’re following the major mining centres of the world, with a core focus on South America as a place that has the superpower of good geological education systems and knowledge that we can apply to other countries,” he said. The company shifts its geographical focus depending on the demand for its technology, with recent projects in the copper belt in Utah and Arizona. 

GeologicAI has an early-mover advantage, and its technology is a “game changer” for mining companies, said Scott Saxberg, a fellow and mentor at Creative Destructive Lab, one of the startup’s early investors. Instead of using the traditional trial-and-error method to figure out where to drill, miners can adjust real-time and analyze results, making it appealing to the likes of Rio Tinto and Breakthrough, he added. 

There’s also a climate angle for investors like Bill Gates’ cleantech fund, Saxberg said, as GeologicAI’s new technology reduces the need for miners to transport equipment over long distances or drill in as many locations to find minerals. Mining contributes to around seven per cent of the world’s emissions, Sanden said, and reducing iron ore emissions by as little as five per cent would be equivalent to taking 44 million cars off the road.

The raise comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened 50 per cent tariffs on copper alongside existing 10 per cent tariffs on critical minerals, and as countries globally scramble to secure critical minerals. The U.S. produces just over half of its refined copper domestically. Canada and Chile contributed to over 80 per cent of the U.S.’s copper imports from 2020 to 2023, according to the United States Geological Survey. GeologicAI’s technology will accelerate the U.S.’s capacity to become more autonomous in the mining sector, said Saxberg, as Trump’s tariffs have created a “real interest for the U.S. to develop their own minerals.”

GeologicAI previously raised US$30 million Series A from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Export Development Canada. Sanden declined to disclose the company’s valuation following the new funding round.