Mariana Minerals develops and operates critical mineral projects in the United States using a software-first, vertically integrated approach. The company combines mining expertise with machine learning, automation, and autonomous systems to compress development timelines, reduce costs, and improve environmental outcomes. It is backed by Andreessen Horowitz and led by a team with backgrounds at Tesla, Palantir, and the mining industry.
The company's proprietary platform, PlantOS, uses reinforcement learning to autonomously control mineral processing operations in real time. Its two operational projects are Lithium One, which it describes as the world's first GWh-scale commercial lithium extraction facility drawing from oil and gas produced water, and Copper One, designed from the outset as an autonomy-first copper mine and refinery. Both projects are active in the United States.
Mariana Minerals targets critical minerals required by clean energy, AI infrastructure, and defense supply chains. Against an industry norm of roughly 12 years from mineral discovery to production, the company's stated goal is to deliver ten critical mineral projects within ten years.
