The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - May 7, 2025
Ma'aden is leveraging Fleet Space's satellite- and AI-enabled exploration technology to unlock an estimated $2.5 trillion in untapped Saudi Arabian mineral wealth.
Fleet Space's ExoSphere mineral exploration platform utilizes satellites for real-time transfer of data to ground stations for AI-enhanced processing.
As many of its global mining peers are trimming mineral exploration budgets, Ma'aden is ramping up with AI and satellite-enabled tech to unlock an estimated $2.5 trillion in untapped Saudi Arabian mineral wealth.
With its sights set on elevating mining as a third pillar of the Saudi Arabian economy and establishing the Middle Eastern kingdom as a cornerstone of global mineral supply chains, Ma'aden has signed a four-year contract with Australia-based Fleet Space Technologies and Tahreez, a Saudi Arabia-based smart solutions provider.
This joint venture will deploy cutting-edge tech to map high-priority exploration targets across 4,600 square miles (12,000 square kilometers) of the mineral-rich Arabian Shield.
"This exploration contract with the Fleet Space and Tahreez JV 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 Ma'aden CEO Bob Wilt.
Unveiled in January, the Fleet Space-Tahreez JV merges Exosphere, the AI-enhanced mineral exploration technology developed by Fleet Space, with the advanced digital technology expertise brought to the JV by Tahreez.
Through this partnership with Fleet Space and Tahreez, Ma'aden is endeavoring to establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in two of the most valuable Digital Age resources – the minerals critical to modern technologies and AI-ready data to discover those minerals.
Fleet Space's ExoSphere mineral exploration platform utilizes satellites for real-time transfer of data to ground stations for AI-enhanced processing.
Ma'aden views mineral exploration in the age of AI as a data problem that can be solved with the collection and processing of vast quantities of high-quality geological, geochemical, and geophysical information.
The Arabian Shield – a large geological formation running along the east side of the Red Sea that is enriched with copper, gold, rare earths, tin, tungsten, uranium, and other metals – has the right geological and geochemical signatures. Ma'aden's partnership with Fleet Space is about collecting geophysical data that provides a glimpse at the rock hidden below the surface.
Geophysics offers a glimpse beneath the surface, like MRI scans that provide geoscientists with 3D images of the rock formations buried below the Earth's surface.
By leveraging space-tech and AI, Fleet Space's fully integrated ExoSphere mineral exploration platform upgrades and accelerates geophysical data collection, an integral step for mining to keep pace with the future-leaning technologies that it enables.
"Space-enabled, real-time exploration is unlocking unprecedented speed, reach, and data quality – transforming mineral discovery into a dynamic, data intelligence-led system," said Fleet Space Technologies CEO Flavia Tata Nardini. "Similar leaps to real-time data have produced breakthroughs like commercial space travel, autonomous vehicles, and AI, among many others. With this partnership, Maaden is set to unlock the most valuable untapped frontier of the data revolution: the global mining sector."
The Australian company's complete rock-to-critical data collection system begins with Fleet Space Geodes, hand-transportable, wireless, and battery-powered geophysics sensors that are easy to deploy. Once sufficient data is gathered from an array, the Geodes use edge computing to partially process the raw information before transmitting the data to Fleet Space satellites.
This streamlined data is then relayed to a ground station that leverages AI to deliver nearly real-time 3D mapping of buried mineral systems.
"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," said Wilt.
Ma'aden's exploration of the Arabian Shield and partnership with Fleet Space embody the three pillars of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 blueprint to diversify beyond oil – a vibrant society, thriving economy, and ambitious nation.
Pushing the boundaries of AI and space-tech to accelerate the collection and processing of geophysical data across an enormous area of the Arabian Shield fits squarely in the ambitious nation pillar, and the leveraging of that data to establish the kingdom as a cornerstone of the global mineral supply chains lands in the thriving economy column.
However, Tahreez Managing Director Francesco Fidicaro is most excited about the partnership's contributions to the vibrant society pillar of Vision 2030.
"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," he said. "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."
With the tech, talent, and terrain in place, Ma'aden is on a mission to establish Saudi Arabia as a frontrunner in the race for the world's most valuable resources of the Digital Age – both critical minerals and the AI-ready data to discover them.
With more than 17 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration, and technology metals.
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