Subsurface intelligence group Ideon Technologies has formed a partnership with Rio Tinto to solve what the pair calls mining’s hardest problem: geological uncertainty.
The issue, the companies said, can make it difficult to identify, develop, and recover critical minerals as quickly and efficiently as the world needs them, and the uncertainty impedes growth, slows investment, drives costs, and delays time to market.
Ideon will apply its proprietary Reveal subsurface intelligence platform to support Rio Tinto’s strategic efforts to unlock value across a range of different use cases and commodities, including copper and iron ore, while advancing its vision for the mine of the future. These efforts will build on current investments in Remote Operations Centres (ROCs) and automation to drive operational performance, reduce costs, and uphold the highest safety standards.
The Reveal platform combines the power of cosmic-ray muons – subatomic particles created by supernova explosions in space – with advanced geophysical sensing technologies, multi-physics data integration, and AI-powered services. It generates high-resolution, high-velocity, 3D models of the Earth’s subsurface, enabling mining companies to identify, map, characterize, monitor, and extract ore bodies faster, more efficiently, with greater confidence. This results in faster targeting, shorter development timelines, reduced operational risk, and a smaller environmental footprint.
This partnership represents the first global-scale adoption of the platform by a Tier 1 mining company. The partnership spans six of Rio Tinto’s largest operations across multiple continents, addressing a range of high-value operational challenges across the entire exploration and mining value chain.
“The less uncertainty mining companies have in the subsurface (and ultimately in the outcome of their mine plans), the quicker they can move, the more value they can unlock with their capital, and the more they can compound value over time,” the company said.
“Today’s announcement builds on several years of collaboration between the two companies, including a successful deployment at Bingham Canyon – one of the world’s largest copper mines. There, Ideon muon-based imaging technology enhanced geological models, reconciled production tonnage, and provided a robust decision-making tool for operational planning. The partnership underscores the growing appetite for deep-tech solutions that unlock value across traditional industries like mining, energy, and infrastructure.”
“Global demand for critical minerals is surging, driven by the need for energy resilience, rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, and geopolitical imperatives around security of supply,” added Gary Agnew, co-founder and CEO, Ideon Technologies.
“Yet the way we map and recover these resources hasn’t fundamentally changed in decades. The $12 trillion gap in critical mineral supply cannot be closed through incremental improvement. It requires the application of breakthrough technologies, bold leadership, and disciplined execution. Rio Tinto is demonstrating all three.
Agnew noted that the partnership will go far beyond technology trials.
“It’s about unlocking the future of mining through real enterprise integration that improves productivity, reduces cost, and increases confidence. By embedding our platform directly into Rio Tinto operations, we’re helping to re-engineer workflows, enabling faster, high-confidence exploration and mining decisions. This is how long-term value will be generated in critical mineral exploration and development – scalable, intelligent, and highly integrated,” he said.
Source: Ideon Technologies