The mineral exploration business is a numbers game, and for decades the numbers have been terrible. The industry standard is a 0.5% discovery success rate. For Roman Teslyuk, a geoscientist who founded Earth AI in 2017, the problem was the economics of digging random holes in the ground. His company's pitch is a simple unit conversion: turn that 0.5% into something a rational investor could love.
Earth AI is a vertically integrated explorer. It uses a proprietary AI platform to analyze public geological data and identify promising sites for critical minerals like cobalt, tungsten, and lithium. Then, instead of selling the data, it sends its own drilling rigs to prove the deposits. The final product is a validated mineral prospect, which it aims to sell to large mining companies like BHP or Rio Tinto [Latitude Media, Jan 2025]. This end-to-end control, from algorithm to drill core, is the company's core wedge. It claims this approach has yielded a discovery success rate of 75% while slashing exploration costs by up to 80% [LinkedIn, Ben Werdegar].
The bet on vertical integration
Traditional mineral exploration is a fragmented, high-risk supply chain. Earth AI's bet is that owning the entire stack, from the AI targeting software to the physical drilling, creates a feedback loop that improves efficiency. The software learns from the drilling results, and the drilling is guided by ever-sharper software predictions. The company says its Mineral Targeting Platform has already identified six new mineralized prospects in Australia [miningstockeducation.com, 2025]. By developing these prospects itself, Earth AI captures the value uplift between raw data and a bankable resource.
Why the check from Tamarack Global cleared
In January 2025, Earth AI closed a $20 million Series B round led by Tamarack Global and Cantos Ventures, bringing its total disclosed funding to approximately $41 million [PR Newswire, Jan 2025]. The round was oversubscribed, a signal that investors are buying the integrated model. The tailwinds are clear: the energy transition is creating unprecedented demand for critical minerals, and existing discovery methods are too slow and inefficient. The company reported $7 million in annual revenue for 2025 [RocketReach, 2026], suggesting it has moved beyond pure R&D and into commercial transactions.
The team and the traction
Founder and CEO Roman Teslyuk was working toward a doctorate in mineral exploration at the University of Sydney when he started the company [TechCrunch, Mar 2025]. His background as a geoscientist with eight years of field experience is central to the company's credibility. The team includes other geologists and operates primarily in New South Wales, Australia, with a corporate presence in San Mateo, California [CB Insights, 2026].
The company's disclosed metrics paint a picture of early traction:
- Discovery rate. Claims a 75% success rate versus a 0.5% industry average [LinkedIn, Ben Werdegar].
- Cost reduction. Says it can explore at 20% of standard costs [LinkedIn, Ben Werdegar].
- Revenue generation. Reported $7 million in annual revenue for 2025 [ZoomInfo.com].
- Asset pipeline. Has confirmed six new mineral prospects containing tungsten, cobalt, and gold [theaiinsider.tech, 2025].
Where the model faces pressure
The most immediate question is about those headline metrics. A 75% discovery rate is so far outside industry norms that it demands extraordinary evidence. While the company cites its own drilling results, independent verification from a major mining house on a commercial sale would be the ultimate proof point. The go-to-market motion is also unproven at scale. Selling a mineral deposit to a mining major is a complex, relationship-driven enterprise sale that can take years. Earth AI's public record does not yet name a specific buyer like BHP or Rio Tinto as a customer, only as the target archetype [Latitude Media, Jan 2025].
The next twelve months
The coming year will be about converting prospects into partnerships. The key milestone to watch is the announcement of a first major offtake agreement or joint venture with a named mining company. That would validate not just the geology but the commercial model. The $20 million in new capital should fund several more drilling campaigns to expand the asset portfolio. Geographically, the company may look beyond its Australian base to other mineral-rich, stable jurisdictions.