{"id":414618,"date":"2026-04-28T09:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/414618\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T09:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:39:17","slug":"inside-mariana-minerals-the-worlds-first-autonomous-copper-mine-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/414618\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Mariana Minerals, the world’s first autonomous copper mine \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a windy Monday afternoon, a copper mine in southeastern Utah resumed production after resting dormant since 2024. Its reboot marks a significant step toward using artificial intelligence in physically demanding work. <\/p>\n

Mariana Minerals, under the leadership of Tesla veteran Turner Caldwell, has revitalized the operation into the world\u2019s first autonomous mine, located about 40 miles southeast of Moab. <\/p>\n

The company is reducing refining costs by 30% and mining costs by 50% by using autonomous drills and robotic haul trucks. <\/p>\n

Overlooking the site\u2019s open pit on Monday, Caldwell told a group of lawmakers, engineers and businessmen, \u201cMariana\u2019s mission is to fundamentally reinvent how infrastructure is built, how mines are operated and how refineries are operated.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"First lady Abby Cox, Gov. Spencer Cox and Mariana Minerals CEO Turner Caldwell take a tour at an event to mark the reopening of Mariana Minerals\u2019 Copper One mine in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Then, clutching \u201cI *heart* explosives\u201d stickers handed out by a Salt Lake City-based explosives company, Caldwell\u2019s audience shuffled to the rim of the open-pit mine. Investors, engineers and government workers peered across the expansive dirt bowl, as they counted down from 10. At zero, a large section of the mine\u2019s floor rippled. Beneath the expanding cloud of dust, the explosion broke up rocks holding troves of copper. <\/p>\n

Mariana Minerals\u2019 site itself, from the control room to its security, showcases futuristic tech. <\/p>\n

While waiting for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to reemerge from one of the facilities, some of the group watched a yellow, four-legged mobile robot trot by. Bearing its maker\u2019s name (Boston Dynamics), the robo-dog \u2014 Spot<\/a> \u2014 seemed to survey the area, then returned to its little concrete bed. <\/p>\n

\"\"A Boston Dynamics Spot robot patrols Copper One mine in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

The new ownership has pulled many of the site\u2019s previous workers into the revamped project, and on Monday, they seemed hopeful about Mariana Minerals\u2019 upgrades. <\/p>\n

James Gill, the project\u2019s process operations manager, told the Deseret News that the technological advances will allow the company to double its copper output. Gill has worked at the mine since the early 2000s. <\/p>\n

The company hopes to produce 50,000 tons of refined copper a year by 2030. In addition to mining, they plan on recycling pre-used copper and refining the material. <\/p>\n

In 2026, the price of copper is the highest it\u2019s been in a decade, sitting at about $13,000 a ton. <\/p>\n

Mariana Minerals has already raised $100 million<\/a> from venture capitalists. <\/p>\n

Gov. Cox: \u2018We wanted to make Utah the most attractive place\u2019 to build\"\"Brenton Hymas, Mariana Minerals process ship supervisor, right, and another Mariana Minerals employee move sheets of copper at Mariana Minerals\u2019 Copper One mine in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Joining local and federal leaders, Cox described Mariana Minerals\u2019 groundbreaking as \u201cone of the most important in our state\u2019s history and in our country\u2019s history \u2014 and maybe in the history of the world.” <\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe that what is happening on this spot is exactly what we need to change the world, save our country and promote freedom across the globe,\u201d Cox said. <\/p>\n

He described the country\u2019s outsourcing of manufacturing and mineral production as \u201cprofoundly stupid.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to be the No. 1 industrial country in the world,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

To return that status to the U.S., Cox and his administration have led an effort to bring hard-tech producers to the state. Valar Atomics, a nuclear energy producer, has set up shop in Orangeville in nearby Emery County, and is on schedule to begin generating energy by July 4. Now the San Francisco-based Mariana Minerals is beginning copper extraction just two hours to the east. <\/p>\n

\"\"Mariana Minerals\u2019 Copper One mine is pictured in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

To lead the country in manufacturing and production, Cox said the state is cutting down on permitting times for critical minerals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make Utah the most attractive place for people anywhere in the country to come and build energy,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we started cutting down permits for critical minerals as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

He referenced a concurrent resolution<\/a> sponsored by Rep. David Shallenberger, R-Orem, and Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, during Utah\u2019s 2026 legislative session, which aimed to establish Utah as a critical minerals hub. <\/p>\n

Cox concluded by thanking President Donald Trump and the Department of Energy for supporting states that want to produce minerals and generate energy. <\/p>\n

How do locals feel about the mine\u2019s resurgence?\"\"Joel Brown, Eastern Utah director for Sen. Mike Lee, and San Juan County commissioner Lori Maughan talk at an event to mark the reopening of Mariana Minerals\u2019 Copper One mine in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Lori Maughan, a San Juan County commissioner, told the Deseret News that residents have been hoping for a company to come and bring more jobs to the area. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been hoping it would come to fruition, which it has. It\u2019s pretty exciting,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

The mine was previously owned by Lisbon Valley Mining Company. It shut down in 2024 due to rising operating costs and a struggle to find human workers. <\/p>\n

Maughan said she believes the new ownership will \u201cabsolutely\u201d be an economic booster to her county. \u201cWe\u2019re one of the poorest counties in Utah,\u201d she said. \u201cTo have someone come that could generate tax base, revenue and jobs is absolutely a great asset to our county.\u201d <\/p>\n

She said she hopes the project will attract talent to San Juan from other counties and states. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled with it. We\u2019ve made some really good relationships with this company, and I feel like they\u2019ve really kept us in the loop and let us know what\u2019s going on. So I feel like it\u2019s a promising partnership,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

What has spurred this tech resurgence? \"\"Mariana Minerals\u2019 Copper One mine is pictured in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

In a conversation with the Deseret News, Caldwell said global political instability has made Americans want to produce critical minerals within their borders. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a global realization that supply chains have generally been less stable globally over the last decade,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd globally, we\u2019re waking up to the fact that unless we start to build our capacity back, it\u2019s very hard to turn the U.S. into a net exporter of critical minerals. If you don\u2019t do it for long enough, you just start to lose the muscle memory of how to actually handle these really complicated industrial ecosystems.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the last five years, there has been an explosion of young entrepreneurs making ground in advanced, physical infrastructure. <\/p>\n

When asked what he believes caused the hard-tech explosion, Caldwell said, \u201cAs new generations come in, they\u2019re going to do new things and challenge the status quo.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. has gotten really comfortable with operating in a way where we do some things here, but we do a lot of things elsewhere. And sometimes it takes like a generational shift to ask the hard question of: \u2018Why can\u2019t we do that here? Why can\u2019t we do more here?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Copper is pictured at an event to mark the reopening of Mariana Minerals\u2019 Copper One mine in San Juan County on Monday, April 27, 2026. The mine will use autonomous tools for mining, refining and capital project execution. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a windy Monday afternoon, a copper mine in southeastern Utah resumed production after resting dormant since 2024.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,343,344,85,46,5964,9588,125],"class_list":["post-414618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news-division","tag-news-feed-national","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}