China's AI Ore-Sorters Are Going Global — Europe's Mines Should Be Worried A Tsinghua-backed AI mineral-sorting firm is pushing into international markets just as Europe scrambles to hit critical raw materials targets. Chinese AI is quietly becoming the pick-and-shovel layer inside the world's mines — and European founders and investors haven't noticed yet. ## What happened in China While European policymakers debate the Critical Raw Materials Act and its ambitions, a quieter industrial story has been unfolding inside Chinese mines. Hefei Taihe Intelligent Technology Group — listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since 2017 under stock code 603656 — became the first enterprise to apply high-speed, high-resolution CCD technology to ore sorting back in 2008. That early-mover advantage has since compounded into a mature industrial AI stack deployed at some of China's most strategically significant mining operations. The clearest proof point: the Xintianling Wolfram Mine in China, established in…