Rio Tinto Selects Five Mining Tech Startups for Accelerator Programme

Rio Tinto and venture builder Founders Factory have selected five startups for the fifth cohort of their Mining Tech Accelerator, backing technologies focused on geohazard monitoring, faster metal analysis, critical-mineral refining, mine planning and copper exploration.

The companies were selected from more than 500 applications and bring the programme’s global portfolio to 29 ventures. The four-month accelerator provides investment, operational support and access to Rio Tinto’s technical specialists and mining facilities in Western Australia, helping founders test their technologies and develop routes to commercial deployment.

The latest cohort includes startups from the United States, Chile and Australia, with each targeting a different challenge across the mining value chain.

Five Startups Target Mining Challenges

Cascade Geomatics, based in the United States, develops geohazard monitoring technology for resource industries and infrastructure. Its work targets the detection and monitoring of geological hazards that can threaten mining operations and infrastructure.

Fieldstone, a US synthetic biology company, uses biological sensing technology to measure metals in geological samples. Its approach combines synthetic biology, hyperspectral imaging and data analysis to generate detailed elemental measurements. Faster access to this information could help exploration teams make drilling and ore-characterisation decisions without relying entirely on conventional laboratory turnaround times.

Determinant Materials, also based in the United States, is developing rapid microparticle refining technology designed to process critical metals at their point of origin. The approach targets the recovery and processing of materials needed for industrial applications and energy technologies.

Blueprint powered by Imvelo, from Australia, provides an economic decision platform for mining. The software integrates information across the mining value chain in a four-dimensional environment, supporting economic modelling and decisions throughout project planning and operations.

NanduX, operating in the United States and Chile, is developing deep-sensing technology for copper exploration. Its approach focuses on identifying copper deposits using subsurface sensing, targeting the challenge of finding new resources as demand for the metal grows.

From Technology Development to Mine-Site Trials

The accelerator gives participating startups access to Rio Tinto’s operational expertise and facilities, alongside support in product development, commercialisation, data science, partnerships and fundraising. The programme also seeks to establish pathways for pilot projects and proof-of-concept deployments.

Two-thirds of the 29 ventures in the portfolio have either trialled their technologies with Rio Tinto, are currently conducting trials or have secured contracts with the miner, according to the programme’s organisers. That figure provides an indication of how far participating companies have progressed towards testing their products in an operating mining environment.

Previous participants have also moved towards commercial deployment. Terra AI, which develops AI-driven subsurface modelling tools, has deployed its platform with major mining companies and secured a $20 million Series A investment. Fast Metals, which focuses on recovering metals from industrial waste, has signed its first commercial customer.

The new cohort will spend four months working with Founders Factory and Rio Tinto, with access to the miner’s technical teams and facilities in Western Australia as they develop and validate their technologies.