KoBold Metals, the mining company backed by a coalition of billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is expanding its search for lithium and nickel to Namibia.

Lithium is an essential ingredient used for developing rechargeable batteries that power devices and vehicles while nickel is used in many alloys such as stainless steel, coinage, magnets and batteries.

Mfikeyi Makayi, CEO of KoBold’s African operations, told Bloomberg the company is now prospecting for critical minerals in the southern and central regions of the African country.

Using artificial intelligence, KoBold aims to create a “Google Maps” of the Earth’s crust, with a special focus on locating copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium deposits.

It secured licenses in Namibia in the third quarter of last year. Known primarily for uranium production, Namibia is not traditionally associated with lithium or nickel mining.

“This is why we’re exploring,” Makayi told Bloomberg. “Just because it’s not known doesn’t mean the opportunities to look deeper aren’t there.”

She added that the company is still in the early stages of prospecting and field exploration before it begins drilling.

The company also plans to invest $2 billion (approx. N$40 billion) in the Mingomba copper-cobalt mine in Zambia, which is said to be the world’s highest-grade undeveloped large copper deposit. Mingomba contains 247 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 3.64% copper.

KoBold aims to produce over 300,000 tonnes of copper by the mid-2030s.

KoBold was valued at nearly $3 billion (approx. N$55 billion) in its latest fundraising round.

The company began its quest for battery metals four years ago in Canada after acquiring rights to an area in northern Quebec, just south of Glencore’s Raglan nickel mine, where it detected lithium.

The start-up now has about a dozen exploration properties in locations including Namibia, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Western Australia.