A recent study emphasizes the necessity of significant government investment in AI mining technologies to lower costs associated with the energy transition and support global decarbonization efforts.

AI technologies can mitigate investment risks by forecasting cost overruns and optimizing equipment management, thus reducing the required rate of return on investments.

Additionally, AI can enhance mining processes through improved mineral mapping, life-of-mine calculations, and productivity enhancements, including drilling and blasting performance.

Professor Russell Smyth from Monash University notes that integrating AI throughout the mining process can enhance efficiency, reduce risks, and promote environmental sustainability.

However, unresolved technical barriers in critical mineral projects can lead to a 'back-ended risk premium,' which raises capital costs and may deter investment.

This investment shortfall could hinder decarbonization efforts, making them more expensive and slow-moving.

Australia, which possesses the world's largest proven reserves of nickel and zinc, risks losing its competitive edge in critical and rare minerals essential for clean energy unless it adopts AI in the mining sector.

Without substantial global investment in AI for the mining sector, the transition to clean energy risks becoming prohibitively expensive, jeopardizing decarbonization initiatives.

Research from Monash University and the University of Tasmania highlights that AI can revolutionize the mining of essential minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, zinc, cobalt, and rare earth elements.

Advancing AI could help decrease this risk premium by shortening project durations and reducing associated risks.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that the lengthy exploration to production timeline of 12.5 years makes investments in critical minerals seem too risky.

To achieve global net zero emissions by 2050, the IEA estimates that investments of between $360-450 billion are necessary by 2030, with a potential shortfall of up to $230 billion.