Ex-Rio Tinto Leader, Kendall Cole-Rae, Joins Fleet Space to Accelerate Sustainable Mining Innovation

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Fleet Space, Australia’s leading space exploration company, is proud to announce the appointment of Kendall Cole-Rae to its Experts-in-Residence (XIR) program. Kendall, former Head of Exploration Technical Knowledge at Rio Tinto, brings decades of resource development and management experience, expanding Fleet Space’s in-house advisory expertise at a critical time for the global mining sector.

"We need to disrupt and transform this industry," said Kendall Cole-Rae, Fleet Space’s Expert-In-Residence. "I believe that Fleet Space understands this opportunity, possesses the know-how to capitalize on it, and will lead the industry through this change. Fleet Space isn’t just opening new frontiers for mining innovation; through our partnerships, we are fundamentally changing how to deliver results at a speed and scale that was previously out of reach."

Amid surging global demand for critical minerals essential to the energy transition, mining companies face rising pressure to enhance production and deliver new discoveries - faster, cleaner, and at lower cost. The addition of Kendall to Fleet Space’s XIR program  - a highly experienced leader renowned for successfully steering capital projects from concept to production - brings leading expertise in mining operations and resource management to Fleet Space, deepening the company’s strategic alignment with the global mining industry.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kendall to the Fleet Space team,” said Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO and Co-Founder of Fleet Space. “His leadership in global resource development and management perfectly aligns with our mission: to empower the world’s largest mining companies with tools that deliver faster insights, richer orebody knowledge, and more sustainable exploration outcomes. Kendall’s guidance will be invaluable as we expand the ExoSphere platform to support the development of secure, resilient mineral supply chains for Earth’s clean energy future.”

Fleet Space: Industry Partner for Sustainable Mining Technologies

Kendall Cole-Rae is a veteran mineral systems thinker and geoscientist with over 30 years’ experience leading resource development and management while maximising operational value across the mining lifecycle. At Rio Tinto, Kendall focused on enhancing discovery performance and building sustainable competitive advantages with innovative solutions, leading a global team of domain experts and technical leaders to develop priority exploration projects across copper, gold, and battery minerals worldwide. By integrating advanced geophysics, geochemistry, and breakthrough technologies, Kendall has been on the forefront of maximising asset potential - delivering outcomes that balance exploration precision with the data-driven agility required to meet industry timelines and ESG goals.

"My goal is to build deeper and scalable continuity between the reduction of environmental impact and the practical application of emerging technologies to accelerate the transformative change Fleet Space is leading across the industry," Kendall added. "Having collaborated extensively with leading businesses and cultivated strong relationships, I possess a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and the latent value waiting to be unlocked through strategic innovation."

Agile Geoscience for a New Era of Exploration

Featuring real-time MT, ambient noise tomography (ANT), active seismic, and gravity surveys and seamless AI-enabled data integration - Fleet Space’s ExoSphere platform enables leading mining companies like Rio Tinto, Barrick, Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti, and Maaden to acquire, process, and integrate high-resolution 3D exploration data into AI-powered insights for their field teams in days.

By improving the speed, resolution, and sustainability of subsurface imaging, ExoSphere enables mining companies to enhance orebody knowledge earlier in the mining lifecycle with greater certainty, while also reducing environmental impact, accelerating exploration timelines, and improving return on investment across entire portfolios.

Meeting The Moment: Scaling for Global Demand

Kendall’s appointment comes as Fleet Space accelerates its global growth following a USD $100M Series D funding round led by Canada’s Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Now valued at over USD $525M, Fleet Space is pushing the boundaries of exploration by building next-gen geophysical survey methods, scaling ExoSphere worldwide to support mineral supply chain resilience and agility, and embedding advisory expertise into core operations as a partner to the global mining industry.

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