How the Future of Sustainable Mineral Exploration will Power the Electric Vehicle Revolution

In episode 101 of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, we speak with Josh Goldman, Ph.D., Co-founder of KoBold Metals, on the future of efficient and sustainable mineral exploration and how electric vehicle batteries can create a circular economy for mobility.

KoBold Metals is developing artificial intelligence to improve the efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability of critical mineral exploration and development.

KoBolds principal investors are Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate technology fund overseen by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and other global business leaders and Andreessen Horowitz, the premier Silicon Valley venture capital fund.

The mineral exploration company uses machine learning and other scientific computing techniques to increase the ethical supply of critical materials (i.e., Ni, Co, Cu, Li, Pt, and Pd) needed to build electric vehicles and personal electronics.

The sustainable and efficient development of new mines will be needed if electric vehicles are to become widespread, but before new ore deposits can be mined, they must be found.

KoBold is the first full-stack exploration company that combines the world’s top mineral explorers with an outstanding team of data scientists and software engineers to bring a comprehensive skill set to bear on exploration.

Josh earned his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University for experiments in atomic physics that demonstrated how trapped electrons could be used to make quantum computers.

He also holds master’s degrees in history of science from Imperial College London and applied mathematics from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. in physics from Cornell.

Josh was an advisor to top executives at oil & gas, electric power, and energy equipment and services firms with the Houston office of McKinsey & Company.

Josh was at the forefront of McKinsey’s deployment of advanced analytics, leading operational transformations that delivered 10%+ performance improvements in power and oil & gas equipment engineering design and sourcing and power plant operations.

His work on strategy and corporate finance ranged from E&P business unit growth strategy, to electric power utility disintermediation strategy, to acquisition target scans and due diligence.

As principal of Phase Change Resources, Josh led business development, sourcing investment opportunities and leading commercial underwriting and valuation of all PCR transactions. He also wrote PCR’s proprietary forecasting and valuation software and led PCR’s big-data digital prospecting efforts.