Two deep tech companies created from research at national science agency CSIRO have merged after raising $11 million.
MagnaTerra Technologies is the result of combining mining innovator NextOre and explosives detection startup MRead. Together they have more than two decades of sovereign innovation in Magnetic Resonance (MR) sensing, a rapid, accurate, and safe detection technology developed by CSIRO to detect minerals, explosives and narcotics at a molecular level.
Existing investor RFC Ambrian Funds Management’s backed the $11m raise, alongside Shaw and Partners and several others.
The cap table also includes CSIRO, engineering group Worley, electronic solutions developer Codan and industrial manufacturer Gebr. Pfeiffer.
MRead previously raised an undisclosed Seed round in April 2023.
The funding will see MagnaTerra continue to develop sensors for detection capabilities for target explosives, critical minerals for bulk sorting, and iron ore sensing applications.
RFC Ambrian invested in both MRead and NextOre at their founding, with RFC chair Rob Adamson also chairing the new entity.
“MagnaTerra is a sovereign tech platform with real revenue, high-impact IP, and clear global applications,” he said.
“The company takes outstanding, world-leading detection technology developed by our national science agency, CSIRO, that has significant potential to improve the economics and reduce the environmental impact of producing copper and other critical minerals as well as important applications in the detection of explosives for humanitarian demining, border security and defence,.”
MRead cofounder and former CSIRO research director Nick Cutmore and MRead CEO John Shanahan, who’ll take on that role in the new venture. are also directors.
The merged business will continue to operate under established brands: NextOre for minerals and MRead for security, defence, and humanitarian applications.
NextOre systems operate in Chile, Zambia and the Philippines. The platform helps copper miners offset the effects of declining ore grades and dramatically reduce 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.
MRead’s handheld mine detector, developed in partnership with the CSIRO and trialled successfully in Angola, uses MR sensing to directly detect RDX – one of two main explosive compounds commonly used in landmines globally. It reduces false positives and can cut clearance time by up to 30%.
The same MR technology is being adapted to detect narcotics and explosives in cargo, without opening packages or using radiation.
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