Mariana Minerals will deploy Pronto's autonomous trucks at its Utah copper mine
This is Pronto's first commercial deal since being acquired by Travis Kalanick's Atoms Inc.
The partnership applies autonomous vehicle technology to industrial mining operations
Mariana Minerals was founded by former Tesla engineers with autonomous systems expertise
The deployment represents automation expansion in mining for safety and efficiency
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Mariana Minerals, a mining startup founded by former Tesla engineers, will deploy autonomous haulage trucks from Pronto at its copper mine in Utah, marking the first commercial agreement for Pronto since its acquisition by Travis Kalanick's Atoms Inc. earlier this year. The partnership represents a significant milestone in applying autonomous vehicle technology beyond public roads and into specialized industrial environments like mining operations.
The deployment involves Pronto's autonomous driving system being installed on existing haul trucks at the open-pit copper mine, where they will transport ore and materials without human drivers. This implementation follows extensive testing and demonstrates how autonomous technology developed for highway driving can be adapted for controlled, private industrial sites. The Utah mine operation will serve as a proving ground for both companies' technologies in harsh mining conditions.
This collaboration highlights the growing intersection between Silicon Valley's autonomous vehicle expertise and traditional industrial sectors seeking efficiency and safety improvements. For Mariana Minerals, founded by engineers who worked on Tesla's Autopilot system, the partnership represents a strategic move to leverage cutting-edge automation in resource extraction. For Pronto, the deal validates its technology's applicability beyond the trucking industry and represents its first revenue-generating contract under Atoms Inc.'s ownership since the acquisition that brought former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick back into the transportation technology space.
The mining industry has increasingly embraced automation to address labor shortages, improve safety by removing workers from dangerous environments, and optimize operations through 24/7 productivity. Copper mining specifically has gained strategic importance due to growing demand for the metal in electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, and electronics. This deployment in Utah could pave the way for similar autonomous implementations across the global mining sector if successful.
Travis Cordell Kalanick (; born August 6, 1976) is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Uber. Previously he worked for Scour, a peer-to-peer file sharing application company, and was the co-founder of Red Swoosh, a peer-to-peer content deli...
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, and Nevada to the west.
Pronto's autonomous haulage trucks are about to start operating at Mariana Minerals's Utah copper mine -- the first such deal since Pronto got acquired by Travis Kalanick's Atoms Inc.
