Latest news with #MRead
The Australian
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Deep tech merger forms MagnaTerra Technologies
A new deep tech company, MagnaTerra, has been formed after the merger of globally leading startups NextOre and MRead MagnaTerra's launch follows an $11 million capital raise and support from some of Australia's leading investors in technology, science and mining. The company combines more than two decades of world-class innovation in magnetic resonance (MR) sensing developed by Australia's national science agency the CSIRO to detect minerals, explosives and drugs at a molecular level Special Report: Australia has a new globally focused deep tech company in MagnaTerra Technologies following the merger of mining innovator NextOre and explosives detection startup MRead. The combined company MagnaTerra Technologies has been backed in an $11 million capital raise supported by a number of leading investors in technology, science and mining. MagnaTerra brings together more than two decades of innovation in magnetic resonance (MR) sensing developed by Australia's national science agency the CSIRO. The rapid, accurate and safe detection technology – similar to that used by MRIs in healthcare – can identify minerals, explosives and narcotics at a molecular level. NextOre has applied highly penetrative technology to ore sorting to become a global leader in mining technology after it was spun out of a CSIRO R&D project. It's since ruggedised and commercialised the sensors for use over conveyor belts and haul trucks in mines across the globe. MRead has adapted the tech to develop world-class expertise in landmine and narcotics detection. Growth to meet global demand The capital raise will fund further developments in game-changing sensors for the defence, critical minerals, border security and humanitarian demining markets, where global demand is intensifying. This will include the development of detection capabilities for explosives, critical minerals for bulk sorting and iron ore applications. Resources sector investment and advisory house RFC Ambrian invested in the raise via its QCM fund. The round also attracted high-net-worth investors introduced by Shaw and Partners. The company's capital table additionally includes the CSIRO, engineering group Worley, electronic solutions developer Codan and global industrial manufacturer Gebr Pfeiffer SE. RFC Ambrian has been an investor in MRead and NextOre since their founding. RFC chair Rob Adamson will also chair the newly formed entity and said MagnaTerra was a natural fit with the fund's mandate. 'MagnaTerra is a sovereign tech platform with real revenue, high-impact IP and clear global applications,' Mr Adamson said. 'The company takes outstanding, world-leading detection technology developed by our national science agency, the CSIRO, that has significant potential to improve the economics and reduce the environmental impact of producing copper and other critical minerals. 'It additionally has important applications in the detection of explosives for humanitarian demining, border security and defence,' he said. Shared core IP, specialist applications MagnaTerra will continue to operate under established brands: NextOre for minerals; and MRead for security, defence and humanitarian demining applications. NextOre's systems are already operating in Chile, Zambia and the Philippines, with customers including Lundin Mining, First Quantum and Newcrest. Its platform helps copper miners offset the effects of declining ore grades by enabling cost-effective sorting of the valuable mineral from waste. NextOre's tech also dramatically reduces energy, water and chemical use by rejecting waste rock close to the source. It's now being adapted for lithium and iron ore, with future applications across critical minerals such as cobalt, antimony and bismuth. 'By enabling 100 per cent ore scanning in real time, our technology makes mines more productive and sustainable,' NextOre CEO Chris Beal said. 'That makes MagnaTerra a compelling opportunity for investors looking for scalable solutions at the intersection of deep tech, sustainability and security.' Like NextOre's sensors, MRead's handheld mine detector was developed in partnership with the CSIRO. It has since been trialled successfully in Angola with The HALO Trust, a forerunner global demining. Angola, Afghanistan and Iraq still have an estimated 10 million mines each, Cambodia an estimated seven million and more than two million landmines have been laid in Ukraine since 2022, with demining organisations scrambling to remove them. MRead's sensors are estimated to cut clearance times by up to 30 per cent by dramatically reducing false positives compared to metal detectors. Using MR sensing it directly detects RDX – one of two main explosive compounds commonly used in landmines globally. R&D has commenced on the other major explosive compound, TNT. 'Landmines are one of the great unresolved global challenges. Our technology promises to save lives and restore land to communities faster and more safely,' MRead and MagnaTerra CEO John Shanahan said. The same MR technology can be adapted to detect narcotics and explosives in cargo, without opening packages or using harmful radiation. 'This merger is a consolidation of world-leading science, engineering and commercial momentum into a single vehicle with global reach,' Mr Shanahan said. From left: MagnaTerra chairman Rob Adamson, MRead & MagnaTerra CEO John Shanahan and NextOre CEO Chris Beal. This article was developed in collaboration with NextOre, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
SBS Australia
30-05-2025
- Health
- SBS Australia
The Australian first which could save thousands worldwide
An Australian company has achieved the "holy grail" of landmine detection, developing technology which it says can definitively tell if hidden explosives lie underground. Those looking to build technology capable of scanning for explosives — rather than for the metal in landmines — have searched for a solution for more than two decades, Nick Cutmore of tech company MRead said. Around 6,000 people are killed and wounded every year by landmines, despite the international adoption of the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty nearly three decades ago. Cutmore, the firm's chief technology officer, said the company has developed a device similar to a metal detector but uses magnetic resonance to detect explosive compounds. "[There's] nothing around in current technology that can look into the ground and tell you that there's absolutely explosive there and count the number of explosive molecules present," he said. "That's exactly what we do." "The closest analogy that you could think of in your daily life is the MRI scan in a hospital, where you basically have radio waves going into you as the object and the radio waves that come back help to form the image of that scan. We do something similar," Cutmore said. Landmine clearance operations are slow, and current devices typically detect metal, leading to hundreds of false positives, as former battlefields are also littered with shrapnel, debris and other metal. Many mines are now made from plastic, partly because it's difficult to detect. Trials for the MRead technology took place in Angola on the same minefields that Princess Diana visited in the 1990s. Conducted in collaboration with demining organisation The HALO Trust, the trials demonstrated the device's ability to detect the explosive compound RDX. But the team was only halfway there. TNT, the most common explosive used in landmines, was successfully identified in laboratory testing in Australia last month — a major breakthrough. Bruce Edwards, head of partnerships at The Halo Trust, said, "I'm a big fan of saying there is no silver bullet in our work, and people ask about game changers all the time." "If we can have a detector that does detect both RDX and TNT within metal and plastic mines, then this has got to be close to a game changer. " The team hopes the lab results will translate to reality. A new prototype that can detect both TNT and RDX, explosives believed to be found in 90 per cent of mines globally, is now in development, with active minefield trials expected to start in 2026. Edwards said: "As I said, no silver bullet, but definitely a breakthrough. It is exciting. Absolutely. And as an Australian, I've got to say, it is quite nice to have this Australian contribution being made across the world and I'd love to see them in Ukraine." Ukraine is now believed to be the most dangerous place on Earth for unexploded weapons. It's estimated millions of explosives have been strewn across battlefields in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in 2022. Almost a quarter of the country is at risk of contamination, and it could take decades to eliminate these invisible threats from the land. Edwards, who is now based in Mykolaiv, is the former Australian Ambassador to Ukraine, said: "Our CEO has described landmines as the 'eternal vigilant sentry' and no better is that demonstrated in the likes of Angola, one of our largest programs. "In Cambodia, in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka ... still we're seeing deaths and inaccessibility due to these wars that for many people will be far, far from their memory."
