Fleet Space Technologies has announced a new contract with Core Lithium. The 12-month agreement, signed [12th October] by Fleet Space co-founder & CEO Flavia Tata Nardini and Gareth Manderson, CEO at Core Lithium.
The contract, which comes into effect in May 2023, will see Fleet’s pioneering satellite-based mineral exploration system, ExoSphere, deployed across Core’s tenements in the Northern Territory. Core was also successful in applying for the co-funding of a tenement-wide deployment of Exosphere at its Shoobridge Project in 2022, under round 15 of the Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations program. .
This follows successful results of a collaborative trial between Core Lithium and Fleet Space Technologies at the BP33 prospect. In August 2022 the company jointly announced the successful conclusion of survey trials. In a statement to the ASX (1st August 20223), Core Lithium described the results of the trial as ‘an outstanding success’, noting an ‘excellent correlation with the pegmatite body interpreted from drilling to depths in excess of 500m’ and stating that ‘a number of previously unknown targets have emerged – a major boost for exploration.’
Core is using ExoSphere to accelerate its lithium exploration activities, in line with its vision to provide high-grade lithium for electric vehicle (EV) and renewable energy storage applications worldwide.
The successful discovery of lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel is therefore essential to the global transition to clean-air mobility. Global EV demand cannot be met unless the pace of discoveries dramatically increases. The World Economic Forum states that the world’s battery capacity must grow 40 times larger than today to meet capacity demands.
Developed by Fleet Space at its headquarters in Adelaide, Australia, ExoSphere is a pioneering exploration system that delivers detailed, 3D subsurface images in days rather than months required using conventional techniques. An array of satellite-enabled geophones, called Geodes, use edge computing to analyse ambient seismic noise collected by Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT). Geodes are up to 10 times more sensitive than existing nodal geophones, increasing both accuracy and depth of results. This data is then rapidly processed and transmitted through Fleet’s low power satellite network.
Crucially, what ExoSphere can do for Core, by enabling direct detection of pegmatites, is to increase the probability of success in drilling, resulting in less drilling, less cost, less time to discovery and less environmental disturbance.
The contract includes the Geodes, planning and deployment support, and real-time processing and delivery of 3D shear velocity models for one year.
“This new contract with Core Lithium marks a huge step forward, not just for our respective companies but for Australia’s entire mineral industry. Global demand for high-grade lithium is growing exponentially, driven by rapid developments in electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy storage. Core is at the forefront of developing this critical resource, through its flagship Finniss Project near Darwin. We’re delighted that having proved so successful in its trials this year, our pioneering satellite-based technology, ExoSphere, will be fully deployed on Core’s tenements across the NT. This is a fantastic opportunity to support and accelerate Core’s vision to become a major lithium producer.” said Matt Pearson, Co-Founder & Chief Exploration Officer, Fleet Space Technologies.
“Core is one of the first companies to embrace Fleet’s ExoSphere technology, and the first to use it successfully in lithium exploration. Core sees huge potential for ExoSphere to provide robust new targets, and focus drilling into the most prospective areas. Core considers that ExoSphere is an innovative new approach to exploration and looks forward to continuing a successful partnership with Fleet Space.” said Andy Bennett, Exploration Manager, Core Lithium.
