PHILADELPHIA, PA — Exyn Technologies (Nasdaq: EXYN, EXYNW) will contribute autonomous navigation technology to a national laboratory-led mining research project selected for U.S. Department of Energy funding negotiations, positioning the Philadelphia company to participate in federal efforts to expand domestic critical mineral production.
The Mining Autonomous Platform for Prospecting and Ore Discovery, known as MAP-POD, is among 17 national laboratory projects selected under the DOE’s Mine of the Future Initiative. The department identified $29.5 million in total funding for the selected projects.
The selection advances MAP-POD to award negotiations but does not constitute a finalized funding agreement. Exyn did not specify its anticipated share of the federal funding.
The project will integrate autonomous robotics, advanced sensors and artificial intelligence to improve underground mapping and identify mineral deposits in real time.
Exyn is expected to provide navigation technology that allows ground vehicles to operate in underground environments where GPS signals are unavailable.
Its ExynAI platform uses autonomous mapping and perception-based navigation to guide robotic systems through complex environments without requiring existing maps or continuous human control.
The technology is intended to address a persistent operational challenge in underground mining, where conventional surveying can be time-consuming and expose workers to hazardous conditions.
Exyn said its autonomy system has achieved Level 4B capabilities, allowing aerial and ground robots to navigate, map and collect environmental data independently.
At Tüprag, a mining operation in Turkey owned by Eldorado Gold, the company’s Exyn Nexys system reduced survey capture times from approximately 40 minutes to five minutes per scan, according to Exyn.
The DOE initiative is intended to accelerate technologies that improve U.S. mining capabilities and reduce dependence on foreign sources of critical minerals used in energy systems and other strategic industries.
For Exyn, the project also offers an opportunity to demonstrate its technology in a federally supported research program while pursuing applications beyond commercial mining.
“ExynAI was built for the conditions this project will face underground, where there is no GPS and the environment can be hazardous for people,” said Ben Williams, Exyn’s interim chief executive officer and chief operating officer.
Williams said the project aligns with three pilot programs the company is conducting to automate the mapping and digitization of complex physical environments.
“We see each of them as a pathway to expand ExynAI into new commercial and government markets,” he said.
Exyn is also targeting defense applications, where autonomous systems capable of operating without GPS or reliable communications could support reconnaissance, infrastructure assessment and situational awareness.
The company is seeking to extend its existing mining technology across different robotic platforms and industries, using a common autonomy system to reduce the need for personnel to enter difficult or hazardous environments.
Participation in MAP-POD could provide another demonstration of that approach as Exyn pursues additional commercial and government applications for its autonomous navigation technology.
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