Fleet Space revealed that its satellite-enabled exploration platform has helped expand the known boundaries of a major lithium deposit in Quebec—an advancement that could significantly accelerate how large mineral resources are discovered and validated. The company says the latest findings indicate the deposit’s scale may be much larger than previously understood, giving the project “district-scale potential.”
Discovering viable mineral resources is typically a slow, uncertain, and expensive process. Historically, “only about three in 1,000 potential deposits end up becoming commercially viable,” and validating them requires extensive drilling, documentation, and waiting periods. These cycles can stretch into years, often delaying investment and slowing down the development of critical minerals like lithium, which power everything from EVs to grid-scale batteries.
Fleet Space is attempting to break that bottleneck through a blend of satellite sensing and AI-driven analysis. Its current constellation of satellites uses multiple remote sensing methods—including electromagnetic readings and gravity-sensing data—to build detailed subsurface models. The data is then pushed into the company’s proprietary exploration software, which can recommend the next drilling target “in as little as 48 hours.” Instead of relying on sequential drilling and manual interpretation, the system enables exploration teams to rapidly narrow down the most promising zones.
This tech-driven project is already reshaping expectations for one of Quebec’s biggest lithium prospects. The Cisco exploration effort (not related to the U.S. networking company) currently estimates that the area could yield up to 329 million metric tons of lithium oxide, placing it among the most significant emerging deposits in North America. According to Fleet Space, the latest satellite-AI findings suggest that mineralization may extend meaningfully beyond existing boundaries, strengthening the likelihood that the region can support large-scale, long-term lithium production.
For the mining sector, this is a glimpse of a new exploration model—one where satellite intelligence, rapid analytics, and autonomous targeting compress multi-year workflows into days. As demand for battery minerals climbs globally, these kinds of accelerated discovery pipelines may become crucial to meeting both industrial and clean-energy commitments.
