TSX-listed Tsodilo Resources has announced a strategic collaboration with Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) to apply artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics to its Critical Minerals (CM) and Rare Earth Elements (REE) exploration program in Botswana.
“Across the mineral exploration and mining sector, AI is increasingly being adopted to deliver unbiased, data-driven targeting that integrates legacy and newly acquired datasets (including drilling, geophysics, and geochemistry) into a unified framework, alongside mineral-system models, enabling more confident classification, prioritization and prediction of high-probability drill targets while reducing exploration risk” commented James M. Bruchs, Tsodilo’s Chairman and CEO.
Under the collaboration, Battelle will develop a physics-informed, predictive AI model trained on Tsodilo's exploration datasets to identify and rank high-probability locations for critical mineral and rare earth element mineralization in skarn deposits. Skarns are contact metamorphic deposits formed where magmatic fluids interact with carbonate host rocks, creating geochemical environments highly favorable to rare earth and critical mineral concentration. The model is designed to reduce exploration risk and accelerating discovery, drawing on one of the most extensive databases in the sector: over 600 diamond core holes, more than 100,000 meters of recovered core, 30,000 assays, and a broad suite of geophysical datasets including magnetic, gravity, electromagnetic, and seismic surveys.
The programme is designed around three core objectives:
- Systematically characterize the geological, geochemical, geophysical, and mineralogical signatures of REE-enriched skarn systems within the target region, establishing scientifically grounded understanding of these systems.
- Leverage AI with interactive geologist-in-the-loop workflows to build spatial statistical models of CM/REE enrichment indicators that translate complex, multi-source data into actionable spatial intelligence.
- Deploy predictive model that quantifies the probability of CM/REE prospectivity as a function of multi-layered geoscience inputs at any given location, iteratively updated to enable more confident targeting decisions as new drilling results are received.
The model will be designed to improve in predictive accuracy as new drilling results are incorporated, enabling geologists to prioritize higher-confidence targets and reduce exploration risk over time. As the program matures, Battelle and Tsodilo will explore opportunities to delineate and rank priority target corridors for resource expansion and step-out drilling, and to establish probability-based target ranking to quantify uncertainty and support exploration decision-making. This framework may also include downstream geometallurgical and processing considerations.
"Partnering with Battelle allows us to expand our knowledge of our current critical minerals and rare earth elements project and to potentially expand the known mineralization," stated James M. Bruchs, Tsodilo Chairman and CEO. "The Skarn project currently holds fifteen of the fifteen Rare Earth Elements and six non-REE minerals on the USGS 2025 critical mineral list. Our data is extensive and Battelle is uniquely equipped to extract, organize, and analyze our datasets. I am eagerly looking forward to the results. This collaboration supports our broader critical minerals and rare earth elements strategy."
"Battelle is pleased to bring our capabilities in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and advanced materials science to bear on one of the most data-rich critical minerals exploration programs we have encountered," said Mike Janus,Senior Vice President & General Manager, Battelle. "This work builds naturally on Battelle's long-standing leadership in geoscience, from subsurface characterization to environmental modeling, and reflects the kind of integrated, mission-driven science we are known for. As geoscience and critical minerals become a defining national security priority, Battelle's commitment to this challenge has never been stronger."
About Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute is a global leader in applied science and technology, with deep expertise spanning data analytics, artificial intelligence, materials characterization, and advanced processing technologies.
