Latest news with #Sedna
Forbes
4 days ago
- Science
- Forbes
Complete Guide To ‘Ammonite,' The Solar System's Latest Member
Sedna orbiting near of Neptune planet. 3d render The solar system suddenly has a new member. A new object discovered in the solar system beyond Neptune and Pluto has astronomers rethinking the history of the solar system. Called 2023 KQ14 and nicknamed 'Ammonite,' the discovery of this unique so-called trans-Neptunian object is both unexpected and could reshape what we know about the solar system's past. Here's everything you need to know about Ammonite, the solar system's newly found object. Is Ammonite A Planet Or A Dwarf Planet? Ammonite is not classed as a planet. It's not even called a dwarf planet, like Pluto (and Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris). Ammonite is classed as a sednoid — an object similar to Sedna, a dwarf planet candidate in the outer solar system, which was found in 2003. Like Sedna, Ammonite orbits beyond Neptune and has a highly eccentric orbit. Ammonite is only the fourth sednoid ever discovered (after Sedna, 2012 VP113 — nicknamed Biden — and Leleākūhonua). How Big Is Ammonite? Based solely on how much sunlight it reflects, Ammonite is thought to be between 137 and 236 miles (220 and 380 kilometers) in diameter, according to the paper announcing its discovery published this week in Nature Astronomy. That's large, but significantly smaller than Pluto's diameter of about 1,477 miles (2,377 kilometers) and Earth's diameter of 7,926 miles (about 12,756 kilometers). How Far Away Is Ammonite? The solar system is measured in Earth-sun distances, one of which is called an astronomical unit (au). When it was found, Ammonite was 71 au from the sun. That's about twice as far as Neptune (30 au) and Pluto (40 au). However, Ammonite's orbital path is highly elliptical, getting as far from the sun as 432 au. It takes about 4,000 Earth-years to complete one orbit of the sun. 'Ammonite was found in a region far away where Neptune's gravity has little influence,' said Dr. Fumi Yoshida of the University of Occupational and Environmental Health and the Chiba Institute of Technology, who leads the FOSSIL project that uncovered Ammonite. That implies that 'something extraordinary occurred during the ancient era when Ammonite formed,' said Yoshida. How Does Ammonite Affect The 'Planet Nine' Thesis? The discovery appears to make the existence of a ninth planet less likely. There is an unusual clustering of six minor bodies in the outer solar system (including the sednoids). All appear to have hugely elongated and elliptical orbits, suggesting that they may have been 'herded' by the gravitational influence of a planet. However, Ammonite's orbit is oriented in the opposite direction to the three other sednoids, breaking their orbital clustering — and, therefore, challenging the 'Planet Nine' theory. 'The fact that Ammonite's current orbit does not align with those of the other three sednoids lowers the likelihood of the Planet Nine hypothesis,' said Dr. Yukun Huang at the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CfCA) of NAOJ, who conducted simulations of Ammonite's orbit. 'It is possible that a planet once existed in the solar system but was later ejected, causing the unusual orbits we see today.' The orbit of Ammonite (red line) and the orbits of the other three sednoids (white lines). Ammonite ... More was discovered close to its perihelion, at a distance of 71 astronomical units (71 times the average distance between the Sun and Earth). The yellow point shows its position as of July 2025. Could 'Planet Nine' Still Exist After Ammonite's Discovery? The so-called 'Planet Nine' could still exist, but much farther out in the solar system. It could also be a 'ghost planet,' ejected long ago, with only its past gravitational influence remaining. The orbits of Ammonite and the other sednoids could also be explained by the gravitational influence of a star passing close to the solar system billions of years ago. How Was Ammonite Found? Ammonite was first observed using the Subaru Telescope's wide-field prime-focus camera, Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), in March 2023 as part of the survey project FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy). That also explains why it's named after a fossil of a cephalopod. It was observed using Suburu again in May and August 2023. The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope's MegaCam was used in July 2024 to trace its orbit more precisely. However, its orbit was calculated by finding it in archive images going back 19 years, including images from 2014 and 2021 from the DECam instrument in Chile and in 2005 images taken by Kitt Peak National Observatory. This animation shows the observations of comet 3I/ATLAS when it was discovered on July 1, 2025. The ... More NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile first reported that the comet originated from interstellar space. Why Is Ammonite Called A 'Fossil' Of The Solar System? Ammonite's status as a 'fossil' of the early solar system comes from the finding that it's at least 4.5 billion years old — almost as old as the solar system itself. Numerical simulations using NAOJ's CfCA PC Cluster supercomputer indicate Ammonite's orbit has remained stable for that time. It also revealed that around 4.2 billion years ago, the orbits of all the sednoids were very similar. Ammonite is part of the fossil record of the orbital configuration of the early solar system. That helps astronomers understand what the solar system looked like when it first formed. Why The Discovery Of Ammonite Is So Significant The discovery of Ammonite goes far beyond merely adding one more distant object to the solar system's population. 'Ammonite's orbit tells us that something sculpted the outer solar system very early on. Whether it was a passing star or a hidden planet, this discovery brings us closer to the truth,' said Dr. Shiang-Yu Wang, the study's corresponding author and a Research Fellow in ASIAA. 'Spacecraft have only explored limited regions of the Solar System [and] most of the vast solar system remains unexplored,' said Yoshida. 'Wide-field observations with the Subaru Telescope are steadily pushing back the frontier. ' Whether 2023 KQ14 is officially named Ammonite remains to be seen, with the International Astronomical Union set to assign a name at a later date. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Fusion Rocket Could Soon Reach a World We Haven't Seen Since the Stone Age
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: In 2076, the dwarf planet Sedna will make its closest approach to the Sun in 11,400 years, and scientists are now figuring out the best way to visit the outer solar system visitor before its too late. Although this is its 'closest' approach, Sedna will still be more than twice the distance that Sun is from Pluto, so any mission will have a plethora of challenges, including how to get there in the first place. A new study examines the possibility of using direct fusion drives (DFD) or solar sails for such a mission, and while each have their benefits, a reliable fusion drive could deliver a 1,500 kg payload in orbit around Sedna, providing an unprecedented opportunity to learn about the furthest reaches of the Solar System. The story of the past 35 years in astronomy has been discovering just how massive our Solar System really is. In 1992, astronomers spotted the minor planet 15760 Albion, the first object ever spotted beyond Pluto and the first official member of the Kuiper Belt. Later, at the turn of the century, astronomers (especially Mike Brown at Caltech) made a string of discoveries, including Quaoar, Maki, Makemake, Eris, and Sedna. Although these discoveries in aggregate is what eventually doomed Pluto to a planetary demotion (Eris is just a sliver smaller than pluto), Sedna was particularly eye-catching. Roughly three times smaller than our Moon, Sedna has an extremely narrow and elliptical orbit, making its closest approach to the sun (perihelion) at roughly 76 AU—some 12.3 times closer than its aphelion at 937 AU. This makes Sedna a kind of planetary emissary to the far-flung Oort cloud. Oh, and astronomers discovered another interesting aspect about Sedna: Its closest approach was just one human lifetime away. Fast-forward 22 years from its initial discovery and astronomers are debating how to best study this astronomical event that hasn't occurred since humans first developed agriculture during the tail end of the Stone Age. A new study, published in the online preprint server arXiv, scientists from the U.S. and Italy analyze a hypothetical mission using two distinct approaches—solar sails and direct fusion drives (DFD). While conventional propulsion systems could require up to 30 years to perform a flyby maneuver, both solar sails and DFDs could pull off the feat in about one-third of the time. However, the outcomes of those twin missions would be vastly different because a DFD drive could actually perform an orbital insertion maneuver whereas a solar sail would be a strictly flyby mission, much like New Horizons swinging by Pluto in 2015. 'Due to the limitations of traditional methods, innovative propulsion systems are crucial to reach distant targets like Sedna,' the authors write. 'Chemical propulsion, while providing high thrust for launches, suffers from low efficiency and high fuel mass requirements for long-duration missions. Electric propulsion, including ion and Hall effect thrusters, offers much higher efficiency and finds many applications nowadays but produces insufficient thrust for rapid deep-space travel.' A DFD, like the Princeton Field-Reversed Configuration (PFRC), would by and large be the preferred method. By the study's estimates, a fusion drive would reduce the mission time compared to conventional rockets by 50 percent while also delivering a 1500 kg payload, which is 1,000 times more than the solar sail alternative. However, this is far from a fool-proof plan. For one, fusion drives have yet to prove plasma stability and reliability during deep-space missions and that's not even beginning to consider things like communication. Secondly, while Sedna is making its 'closest' approach in 2076, it's still more than double the distance from the Sun to Pluto, meaning one-way-light-time (OWLT) would be about 13 hours—not exactly an easy environment for reliable communication. Sending a spacecraft to Sedna would be one of the greatest challenges in the history of spaceflight, but a rewarding one. Due to its extremely strange orbit, Sedna could provide an unprecedented opportunity to learn about some of the farthest reaches of our own Solar System. Luckily, we still have a few more years to perfect a mission (especially if we go the DFD route), but scientists would need to get working sooner rather than later so that this once-in-140-lifetimes opportunity doesn't slip through our orbital grasp. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Gizmodo
01-07-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Experimental Propulsion Tech Could Reach Mysterious Planet Beyond Pluto in 10 Years
On November 14, 2003, astronomers spotted what was at the time the most distant known object orbiting the Sun. They called it Sedna after the Inuit goddess of the ocean. It's a cold, reddish dwarf planet that drifts billions of miles away from the Sun during its 10,000-year orbit before coming in for a relatively close approach to our star. Its next perihelion is happening in July 2076, and astronomers want to take advantage of this rare encounter by flying a mission to the mysterious object. A team of researchers from Italy suggests mission concepts that could reach Sedna in seven to 10 years using cutting-edge technology. In a paper available on the pre-print website arXiv, they illustrate two experimental propulsion concepts that involve a nuclear fusion rocket engine and a new take on solar sailing technology. The propulsion technologies could cut down travel time to Sedna by more than 50% compared to traditional methods of space travel, allowing scientists a unique opportunity to gather clues about the early formation of the solar system and probe the theoretical Oort Cloud. When it was discovered, Sedna was around 8 billion miles (13 billion kilometers) from the Sun. (Pluto, the most famous dwarf planet, has an average distance of 3.7 billion miles from the Sun.) Sedna is known as a Trans-Neptunian object, a group of objects that orbit the Sun farther out than Neptune. It has an extremely eccentric orbit: at its farthest distance, Sedna is 84 billion miles away from the Sun, or 900 times the distance between Earth and our star. During its closest approach, Sedna will be around 7 billion miles away from the Sun, nearly three times farther than Neptune. That's still far, but it's close enough for a spacecraft to reach the celestial object before it fades back into ultra-distant darkness. Spacecraft have traveled farther distances before. Voyager 1 and 2 started their interstellar journey in 1977 and have traveled 15 billion miles and 12.7 billion miles thus far. It took Voyager 2 around 12 years to reach Neptune. Based on current technology, scientists estimate it would take around 20-30 years to reach Sedna during its closest approach, while using Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Neptune as gravity assists. That would mean the launch window to reach Sedna is fast approaching, with no clear plans yet in place. Instead, the researchers behind the new study suggest alternative methods to get us there faster. The first is the Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) rocket engine, which is currently under development at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory. The fusion-powered rocket engine would produce both thrust and electrical power from a controlled nuclear fusion reaction, providing more power than chemical rockets. 'The DFD presents a promising alternative to conventional propulsion, offering high thrust-to-weight ratio and continuous acceleration,' the researchers write in the paper. 'However, its feasibility remains subject to key engineering challenges, including plasma stability, heat dissipation, and operational longevity under deep-space radiation.' They add that, while advances are being made for fusion-based propulsion, it's still unclear whether it can support long-duration missions and provide power for onboard instruments. The second concept builds on existing solar sail technology, which is still experimental in its own right. Solar sails are powered by photons from the Sun, harnessing energy produced by light and using it to propel spacecraft forward. The researchers suggest coating the solar sails with material that, when heated, releases molecules or atoms and provides propulsion in a process known as thermal desorption. The solar sail, assisted by Jupiter's gravity, could reach Sedna in seven years due to its ability to continuously accelerate without the need to carry heavy fuel, according to the paper. The idea does come with its own set of challenges. 'While solar sailing has been extensively studied for deep-space applications, its feasibility for a Sedna mission requires assessment in terms of long-duration structural integrity, propulsion efficiency, and power availability for science operations,' the paper reads. Despite a slight time advantage, the solar sail mission would only allow for a flyby of Sedna, while the DFD engine could insert a spacecraft into the dwarf planet's orbit for a longer mission. Either mission would provide us with the first direct observations of the previously unexplored region and help scientists better understand the larger boundary that houses the solar system.
The Market Online
25-06-2025
- Business
- The Market Online
This junior copper stock could be a Canadian leader in the making
The world will need about 3.7 million tons of copper beyond existing supply to meet 2030 demand, driven by the critical metal's malleability, conductivity, corrosion resistance and antimicrobial properties. This is equivalent to over 60 new mines, each of which could take a decade or more to reach production. This dynamic grows more severe over the longer term, with industry requiring more copper over the next 30 years than has been mined in the history of humanity to meet net-zero emissions goals, setting the stage for a massive copper deficit over the next decade. Investors looking to capitalize on this deficit must first understand copper demand's main drivers, each lying at the heart of the green energy transition. Here's a breakdown, according to Visual Capitalist, of the critical metal's global tailwind: Electric vehicles require 132 pounds of copper per vehicle, with the sector's demand for the critical metal expected to post a 14-per-cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2035. The battery sector requires up to 540 pounds of copper per megawatt (MW), with copper demand positioned for a 21.8-per-cent CAGR through 2035. Solar panels require 5.5 tons of copper per MW and are forecasted to achieve an 11.9-per-cent copper demand CAGR through 2035. Wind turbines require about 8 tons of copper per MW and are on track for a monumental 33.1-per-cent copper demand CAGR through 2035. This is in addition to copper's traditional uses in architecture, electrical wire, as well as numerous specialized applications, together representing tens of billions in market value. These high-growth industries are running counter to the trend in copper development capital, which has almost halved since 2013, prompting a growing number of institutions to call for higher prices up to US$40,000 per ton – almost four times the price of US$10,034.20 as of June 24 – and a growing number of investors to expand their due diligence into copper projects with strong cases for trading at a discount to their potential. A junior miner with a data-driven case to generate leverage above and beyond copper's tailwind is Viridian Metals (CSE:VRDN), market capitalization C$21.83 million, the largest claim holder in Newfoundland and Labrador. Map of Viridian Metals' Sedna and Kraken projects and surrounding major developments. (Source: Viridian Metals) Viridian is focused on developing two 100-per-cent-owned critical metals projects with potentially significant roles in the global supply chain, as reinforced by: An underexplored tier-one mining jurisdiction, populated by industry heavyweights such as Vale, Tata Steel and Rio Tinto, marked by the strongest level of community support chief executive officer Tyrell Sutherland, a 40-per-cent shareholder, has seen in his over 15-year career. We'll meet him in the management section later on. A fully funded 2025 exploration program following a recently closed over C$2 million financing, as well as inclusion in BHP's prestigious 2025 Xplor program, the latter affording Viridian a non-dilutive grant of C$1.1 million and access to the major miner's unmatched industry expertise to stake and study the Seal Basin, including its Sedna project, which we'll cover in the next section. Alignment with Canada's critical minerals strategy, which will see the Federal government invest nearly C$4 billion in domestic exploration, development and production, as well as numerous other government programs representing millions in potential funding. Investors have been recognizing the portfolio's high conviction since Viridian went public in November 2024, lifting the junior copper stock by 69.88 per cent from C$0.259 at inception to C$0.44 as of June 24, with the company's highly prospective land package still in the earliest stage of proving out its mineral wealth and value-creation potential. To get a better sense of investor enthusiasm and ground it in data, let's turn our attention to Viridian's next project in line for exploration, explaining why it supports the stock's long-term room to run. The Sedna project Viridian's 2,600-square-kilometre (km) Sedna project is located in the Seal Basin, a sedimentary copper basin as of yet untouched by advanced exploration with hundreds of copper occurrences documented in the 1960s, 1970s and 2010s in the Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador's Mineral Occurrence Data System. Sedimentary basins host some of the largest and highest-grade copper deposits in the world, often delivering resources of more than 1 billion tons grading over 2 per cent copper. Management believes the Seal Basin, which was less than 10 per cent staked prior to their involvement, to be one of the most promising exploration regions in the country. Drilling surface mineralization at the Kraken project. (Source: Viridian Metals) Sedna has yielded high-grade rock samples along a 3.6-km stretch, including copper nuggets weighing up to 300 pounds, substantiating its geological similarity to globally leading sedimentary copper deposits, such as Ivanhoe Mines' 18,655-kiloton Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Congo and Highland Copper's 5.7-billion-pound White Pine mine in the US. Viridian channel samples have only bolstered Sedna's prospectivity, motivating the junior copper company to mobilize for geological work in early June to answer fundamental questions about the source of copper mineralization, including the age of the basin, whether it's of the marine or lake varieties, and which fluids are responsible for copper mobilization. Here are the highlight samples: 3.7 m at 5.3 per cent copper and 5.7 grams per ton (g/t) of silver. 1.4 metres at 1.5 per cent copper and 1.6 g/t silver. Additionally, historical work adjacent to the project in the upper stratigraphy drilled 1.9 metres at 4.7 per cent copper and 42 g/t silver at the Adeline Island Showing and trenched 11 metres at 2.9 per cent copper and 46 g/t silver along the Whiskey Lake Shear, leaving the more richly mineralized lower stratigraphy untouched. Sedna's early exploration success also led Viridian to expand the project and stake 2,600 square km across the well-mapped basin – bringing it to 70 per cent staked – making the junior copper miner the first-mover in the region and the largest claim holder in the province, adding more than 70 known, near-surface and largely unexplored copper occurrences. Viridian plans to leverage BHP's capabilities and allocate C$400,000-C$500,000 to increase its geological understanding of these new claims with eyes on potential partnerships with major miners. Residing near road and power infrastructure, and diversified by a potential silver by-product – with the metal sitting near a 10-year high of US$36.31 per ounce as of June 16 – Viridian's Sedna project is positioned to serve as the catalyst for unlocking the Seal Basin's district-scale upside, supported by what Sutherland sees as Labrador's 'exceptional geological potential' and the basin's 'capacity to deliver significant value,' according to the staking news release. The Kraken project Viridian intends to carry momentum from Sedna's likely positive news flow into late-2025 exploration at its adjacent 185-square-km Kraken copper-nickel-cobalt project, which has yielded Viridian and historical drilling of more than 4.1 per cent copper and is hosted by the same intrusions as the legendary Voisey's Bay, whose production + reserves stand at 65 million tons grading 2.4 per cent nickel, 1.3 per cent copper and ~0.1 per cent cobalt. Another analogue, Power Metallic's Nisk project in Quebec, recently delivered high-grade copper on historically nickel-dominant terrain, positioning the company for a near-term resource. Similar to copper, nickel and cobalt also play critical roles in the energy transition, with both expected to enter deficits over the next decade, and the International Energy Agency estimating that the world will need at least 60 new nickel mines and 17 new cobalt mines to stand a chance at reaching net-zero emissions. Kraken's district-scale, polymetallic upside is backed up by more than 169 conductors totaling more than 64 km of strike length near surface. This is in addition to: Surface mineralization up to 2.2 per cent nickel-copper-cobalt in pods distributed over 37 km suited to Viridian's low-cost portable drilling approach, which cuts set-up costs by 25x and mobilization costs by over 6x compared to full-sized drills, while benefitting from a less stringent permitting process. Viridian's first-mover advantage as a primarily copper-focused explorer in the region, keen to replicate Power Metallic's success at Nisk based on how the project's copper-rich ore bodies often shift away from nickel mineralization, requiring their own set of exploration parametres. The project's highest-priority target, the Kraken Main Zone, encompasses a 5-km conductor founded on historical intercepts by mining majors, including Noranda Kennecott's 8 metres grading 0.5 per cent nickel-copper-cobalt and Teck Resources' standout 46 metres at 0.3 per cent copper-nickel-cobalt (from 2 metres). The Kraken project. (Source: Viridian Metals) Viridian subsequently verified these impressive historical results with maiden drilling up to 14.8 metres at 0.42 per cent copper-nickel-cobalt from bedrock surface, leaving multiple high-grade intercepts to be tested and initial down-hole electromagnetic surveying to potentially shed light on untapped prospectivity. The junior copper miner expects to deliver a 43-drillhole exploration program at Kraken by year-end to further define high-grade copper zones, followed by a near-term maiden resource – which management believes could reach 100-300 million tons grading 0.3-0.8 per cent copper-nickel-cobalt – likely adding steam to ongoing market enthusiasm. A leadership team optimized for exploration success Viridian's vastly underexplored portfolio is under the care of a leadership team with 65 per cent insider ownership and mining expertise from the field, to capital markets, to the C-Suite, granting the junior copper company a strong foundation towards converting exploration upside into significant shareholder value. Let's meet them now: Tyrell Sutherland, Viridian Metals' CEO and top investor at 40 per cent of shares outstanding, is a geologist with 15 years of experience in mineral exploration with an emphasis on Indigenous collaboration and projects in northern Canada. Sutherland was instrumental in the acquisition and initial resource growth of Auteco Minerals' Pickle Crow mine, and served on the board of Levon Resources, owner of the largest undeveloped silver deposit in the world, during its sale to Discovery Silver. Sutherland also brings extensive experience with major miners, including as a geologist for Ivanhoe Mines and Anglogold Ashanti and as a core logger for Kirkland Lake Gold. Lee Bowles, chief business development officer, has built an over 25-year career at independent investment dealers in Toronto, New York and London. Bowles played a key role in building one of Canada's top resource investment dealers and is currently focused on providing institutional equity sales coverage focused on Europe. Sabino Di Paolo, CPA, CA, chief financial officer (CFO), is a specialist in public and private mineral exploration companies, having served as CFO of Cornerstone Capital Resources, UrbanGold Minerals, Melkior Resources and Everton Resources, among numerous other public exploration and non-exploration companies. Charlene Duffett, exploration manager, hailing from Goose Bay, Labrador, has spent the past five years engaged in remote mineral exploration across northern Canada, complementing her research background in hydrothermal deposits in Labrador's Central Mineral Belt. Duffett is a board member of She Connects, a non-profit supporting mentorship for women, and she received a 2018 Young Mining Professionals Scholarship for her contributions to the industry. Coulter Wright, head of government and grant funding, brings more than 25 years of corporate finance, investment and start-up experience to Viridian, including 12 years at AGF Investments as vice president and portfolio manager of the Canadian Growth Equity Fund. Wright's strategic investment in Real Matters led him to an executive role in 2014, guiding the mortgage and insurance technology company through three acquisitions. He has served as co-founder and CFO of Charly Inc. and redPADEL since 2016 and is currently CFO of GetintheLoop Marketing. Alan Grujic, board member, is an innovator in the areas of engineering and finance. His track record includes the founding of Infinium Group, a boundary-pushing trading firm, Galiam Capital, a quantitative hedge fund, as well as All of Us Financial, a trading platform acquired by PayPal in 2022. The following year, Grujic stepped into advisory roles in AI and biosecurity and is currently building an AI consulting start-up. Viridian's top brass ties the junior miner's value proposition together with a well-rounded skill set – one built on years of identifying and developing exploration-stage assets across the mining business cycle – optimizing investors for an outsized outcome should copper demand continue to climb as expected. Viridian's momentum is a trend worth following Our due diligence can lead us to only one conclusion, and it's that Viridian Metals' position as Newfoundland and Labrador's leading mineral claims holder has long-term staying power. As we've delineated, this thesis is supported by the project portfolio's data-driven, district-scale potential for harvesting exploration upside, positioning the company to become a leader in the Canadian junior copper space. Here's a refresher on the company's reasons for conviction: A target commodity in short supply, despite being integral to the global green energy transition, making price appreciation a reasonable long-term assumption. Over 70 copper occurrences, 169 conductors and 800 electromagnetic anomalies across a district-scale land package representing multiple years of exploration. Cash of C$2.6 million as of June 10 to continue nudging the market into recognizing Sedna and Kraken's massive upside through positive news flow. A leadership team, highly aligned with shareholders, experienced at navigating the junior mining market in risk-on and risk-off environments. These factors combine into a considerably de-risked investment opportunity, where the common sources of junior mining volatility – unproven assets, commodity demand, management chops – have all been thoroughly mitigated. Viridian's institutional ownership vehemently agrees, standing at an impressive 13 per cent, suggesting that the company's approximately 23 per cent retail ownership has made a potentially transformational investment the broader market is missing. With no debt and a tight 50 million shares issued, plus only 9.5 million shares tied to warrants, Viridian is in a prime position to tap capital markets opportunistically, while preserving shareholder value, as an increasingly tight copper market allows it to expedite project development. Join the discussion: Find out what everybody's saying about this junior copper stock on the Viridian Metals Inc. Bullboard and check out Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards. This is sponsored content issued on behalf of Viridian Metals Inc., please see full disclaimer here.
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Chennai based Anicut Capital leads ₹50 crore round in Sedna to build tech-driven B2B platform for HoReCa industry
Sedna HoReCa, a business-to-business (B2B) platform for the hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) industry has raised ₹50 crore in a funding round led by Chennai-based Anicut Capital. The funds will be utilized to build India's first integrated, technology-driven and comprehensive B2B solutions platform for the HoReCa industry and expanding into newer markets. Co-Founded by Mahadevan Narayanamoni (Mahad) and Saurabh Pandey, Sedna has three verticals: B2B SaaS, Commerce & Distribution and Products & Solutions. Mahad and Saurabh had earlier built and scaled Aknamed, India's largest tech-driven B2B hospital supply chain business. SupplyNote, the most popular inventory management software and BillNote, a fast-growing Point-of-Sale software for restaurants and cafés in India are now part of Sedna, under the B2B SaaS vertical. Vyap, a growing supplies distribution platform and SupplyLink, an innovative 3PL/4PL solution for HoReCa, comes under the Commerce & Distribution vertical. Under the Products & Solutions vertical, Sedna offers private label solutions as well as ready-to-cook and ready-to-serve food solutions to HoReCa businesses, D2C brands, Food courts and commercial kitchens. 'The investment by Anicut will enable the expansion of our one-stop-shop B2B solutions to over 20 cities in the next 12 months', said Saurabh Pandey, Co-Founder of Sedna. 'With increasing technology adoption, advent of innovative business models, emergence of national retail players and launch of new food brands, this is the right time to build an integrated, technology-enabled B2B solutions business for the HoReCa industry offering standardised products and solutions at consistent quality, availability and costs across the country,' he added. 'Sedna helps solve specific challenges that the HoReCa industry has been facing; escalating purchase costs, erratic fill rates, long lead times, inventory loss due to pilferage etc. With customers demanding high quality and innovation in food, the industry is ripe for digital transformation,' said Dhruv Kapoor, Partner – Anicut Capital.
