Ekometall Inc., through its subsidiary Ekometall Exploration GmbH, has been awarded a non-repayable research grant of €342,793 by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) to support the AMIPA (AI-Driven Mining Intelligence Platform for Austria) project. This initiative, backed by the Austrian government under the Rohstoffe 2025 funding call, aims to unlock historical mining archives by developing AI-supported methods to convert Austria’s extensive geological records into a structured, georeferenced digital resource.
The AMIPA project will span 30 months and is set to validate AI methodologies for processing centuries of mining documents, maps, and records. The project will be conducted in collaboration with technology partner GexplOre, a French geosciences company known for its expertise in mineral exploration services. The funding covers 60% of the project’s total budget of €571,322, highlighting the government’s commitment to advancing technological innovation in the mining sector.
Ekometall’s Managing Director & CEO, Ryan Finlay, expressed that receiving this grant is a significant endorsement from the Austrian government, reinforcing the importance of their work with historical archives. The project not only aims to digitize historical data but also includes a dedicated workstream focused on identifying historical mine waste and tailings sites. This aspect supports Austria’s objectives for secondary raw materials, potentially revealing valuable resources from the country’s mining legacy.
Austria boasts over five centuries of mining history, yet much of its geological knowledge remains trapped in scanned reports and handwritten records. The AMIPA project seeks to address this gap by developing a methodology that processes these sources at scale, integrating them with modern geochemical, geophysical, and remote-sensing data on a GIS-based platform. Each result will be traceable to its original source document, ensuring transparency and reliability.
The program will unfold in three phases: digital data acquisition and structuring, AI model and decision-support development, and scientific validation. The final phase will involve field verification by Ekometall geologists, LiDAR-based assessments of historical tailings sites, and external peer review, ensuring that the project’s outcomes are scientifically robust.
Ekometall is positioned as a critical minerals exploration company, focusing on unlocking Austria’s precious and base metal potential. With a land position exceeding 10,000 km², the company combines local expertise with modern exploration methods, establishing itself as a key player in accessing the critical raw materials essential for Europe’s energy transition and industrial future. For further details, visit ekometallgroup.com.
