Calgary’s GeologicAI is acquiring fellow mining technology startup Lumo Analytics, a Finnish firm that helps companies detect critical minerals.
The deal will see Lumo’s tech and team both join GeologicAI. The financial terms were not disclosed, but the acquisition comes months after GeologicAI closed $61 million in Series B financing to scale globally and expand its sensing technology. It also follows GeologicAI’s 2024 purchase of Resource Modeling Solutions, which sells geostatistical modelling software and services.
GeologicAI uses AI and sensors to help mining companies analyze rock samples for critical minerals like lithium, copper, and rare earth metals. The startup claims that the Lumo deal “completes” its suite of sensors for the critical minerals sector.
GeologicAI’s Steve Buckley claims Lumo has built “the most compact and efficient LIBS scanner available in the market.”
Lumo has developed a device that uses a technique called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to rapidly analyze the composition of drill core samples. LIBS uses a high-energy laser pulse that vaporizes a tiny spot on a rock to create a short-lived plasma that emits light that reveals the elements present within it.
According to GeologicAI’s senior VP of engineering, Steve Buckley, Lumo has built “the most compact and efficient LIBS scanner available in the market.”
Founded in 2013, GeologicAI has described itself as providing “rock analytics for modern mining.” With its AI-powered software and hardware, the startup aims to help geologists capture data on critical minerals below the Earth’s surface faster and more efficiently than manual core logging processes. The goal is to help mining companies make quicker, stronger decisions about where to explore and how to design and operate their mines.
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Demand for critical minerals has intensified amid the AI data centre boom and energy transition. GeologicAI founder and CEO Grant Sanden said this has led to a “critical minerals crisis” in the mining industry.
“To address this, we are driving a strategy of bringing together enhanced data at the source, industry-specific domain expertise, and advanced, purpose-built analytics,” Sanden said in a statement. “This acquisition represents a key step forward in our mission.”
Feature image courtesy GeologicAI.