Australian space exploration company Fleet Space Technologies has signed a multiyear exploration contract with Maaden (Saudi Arabian Mining Company) to explore up to 12,012.6km² of the company’s priority projects across the Arabian Shield.
The four-year agreement with the Fleet Space and Tahreez joint venture will enable high-resolution, real-time 3D subsurface imaging up to seven kilometres in depth to support Ma’den’s growth strategy in support of Vision 2030.
The contract represents a significant expansion of Fleet Space’s operational presence in the Middle East following a recently signed MoU between Maaden and the Fleet Space and Tahreez joint venture.
Through this contract, Maaden will deploy the full suite of end-to-end solutions enabled by Fleet Space’s flagship ExoSphere technology across its tenement portfolio, including real-time ambient noise tomography, active seismic techniques, and Fleet Space’s proprietary AI-driven drill targeting.
“This exploration contract with the Fleet Space and Tahreez joint venture marks the beginning of a new chapter in the future of mineral exploration, one where the latest advances in space technology, real-time geophysics, and AI converge to build the mineral supply chains of tomorrow,” said Maaden CEO Bob Wilt.
“By integrating Fleet Space’s cutting-edge, space-enabled exploration stack with our world-class operations, Maaden aims to set a new global benchmark in exploration data intelligence and build a faster, smarter, and more sustainable path forward for the global mining sector, fully aligned with the Kingdom’s bold transformation under Vision 2030,” he added.
The initiative will be delivered through the regional joint venture established by Fleet Space and Tahreez, enabling the rapid deployment of Fleet Space’s vertically integrated ExoSphere platform. This includes Fleet Space’s network of low Earth orbit satellites, smart ground sensors, and advanced AI models that together deliver real-time 3D subsurface insights and AI-enabled drill targets to highly remote field teams in days, enabling more agile and data-driven decision-making while improving campaign efficiency at scale.
“How the most ambitious global mining companies use data to design and execute their exploration strategies is undergoing a phase transition,” said Fleet Space CEO Flavia Tata Nardini. “Space-enabled, real-time exploration is unlocking unprecedented speed, reach, and data quality, transforming mineral discovery into a dynamic, data intelligence-led system.”
“Similar leaps to real-time data have produced breakthroughs like commercial space travel, autonomous vehicles, and AI, among many others,” she added. “With this partnership, Maaden is set to unlock the most valuable untapped frontier of the data revolution, the global mining sector.”
In collaboration with Maaden’s exploration teams, the Fleet Space and Tahreez joint venture will rapidly deploy ExoSphere at scale across Maaden’s projects and opportunity zones in the Middle East to identify potential targets for future development.
Used by global mining leaders like Rio Tinto, Barrick, Gold Fields, and AngloGold Ashanti to deliver 3D imaging of mineral systems across five continents, ExoSphere improves data-driven exploration with near-zero environmental impact, furthering ESG and sustainability targets for customers worldwide.
“What excites me most about this collaboration is the advanced mining technology expertise it will bring to the Kingdom,” said Tahreez MD Francesco Fidicaro. “By embedding cutting-edge, space-enabled technologies into the heart of Saudi exploration, we’re also building something far more powerful, a generation of Saudi men and women equipped with the skills, mindset, and tools to lead this sector into the future.”
“This is how you make mining the third pillar of the Saudi economy – not just with innovation, but with people who can wield it to drive meaningful, long-term progress,” he added.
