Fleet Space Appoints Darren Burrows as Senior Exploration Geophysicist
Fleet Space is delighted to welcome Darren Burrows to the company as its new Senior Exploration Geophysicist.
"We’re very pleased to welcome Darren, a highly esteemed geophysics expert, to our senior team during this pivotal chapter in our company's journey. With his extensive expertise in geophysics, gained through numerous mining exploration projects worldwide, Darren brings unparalleled depth and a rich understanding of Earth's subsurface dynamics to our organization. His technical acumen in advanced geophysical techniques, such as seismic imaging, magnetic surveys, and gravity mapping, coupled with his global outlook, is crucial as we embark on the next phase of our ambitious global expansion strategy. His invaluable insights and assurance, rooted in the complexities of geophysical data interpretation and analysis, will benefit our existing and prospective customers on a global scale." says Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO and Co-Founder, Fleet Space Technologies.
With a 20-year career in geoscience and business development gained in South Africa and North America, Darren brings a wealth of experience to this crucial new senior technical role. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, he will have a particular focus on the North American market, which is key to Fleet’s global expansion strategy for its ExoSphere satellite-based mining exploration system.
Darren graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2006 with an Honours degree in Geophysics. He began his career as a seismologist in the country’s deep gold mines analysing mining-induced seismicity, and working with rock engineers to ensure safe underground mining conditions. He then worked on a platinum exploration project in the Bushveld Igneous Complex, planning drillholes, logging core and managing exploration data. As his career progressed, he specialised in airborne geophysics, focusing on data processing, interpretation and program design, before moving into business development, first in Houston, Texas, and later in Toronto, Ontario.
Darren’s appointment is part of a wider growth strategy underpinned by a successful A$50m C Series funding round, confirmed in May. This was secured following Fleet’s phenomenal success in commercialising its groundbreaking ExoSphere product, which has generated $28 million in contracted revenues within a year, and gained customers on every continent.
With its unique combination of ambient noise tomography (ANT) and space-enabled data, ExoSphere is transforming subsurface exploration for critical minerals essential to the energy transition required to meet global net-zero targets. It’s currently in operation with more than 30 clients globally, including Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold Corporation, Core Lithium and Gold Fields with well over 100 surveys for mineral exploration projects either completed or in progress.
Fleet is well-positioned to continue this impressive growth trajectory and expand its global presence, particularly in North America. The recent Series C funding will also support the development of new technology enabled by Machine Learning and AI, and new strategic product lines on a global scale through an expanded constellation of satellites.
Commenting on his new appointment, Darren says: “I’ve worked in geophysics and mining for two decades, and in that time I’ve seen the focus of exploration and development shift dramatically. The priority now is to locate the minerals we need to build clean-air technologies in pursuit of net-zero, and the speed and urgency of that search are only going to intensify as global deadlines approach. ExoSphere is a genuine gamechanger in this field: it’s already revolutionising mining exploration; and with substantial new funding behind it, has the potential to reshape the industry worldwide. As a geophysicist, I just had to be part of it, and I’m delighted to be joining Fleet at this incredibly exciting time. As a bonafide space nerd it's very gratifying to be working with a company that's involved in both my passions.”