Durin Raises $3.4M to Automate Drilling for Critical Minerals Exploration
Finding New Sources of Critical Minerals Is a Costly Business
What you’re looking at is a sins of the mining world: a whole 12–13 billion dollars spent on exploration in 2023 alone.
When it comes to digging for minerals, luck is your biggest partner – a 3‑out‑of‑1 000 success rate is about the most optimistic headline you’ll see.
Why the $13 B Follows the Hit-or-Miss Tradition
“All around 70 % of the capital exploration companies raise goes straight into drilling,” says Ted Feldmann, CEO of Durin. “Drilling is, frankly, prohibitively expensive.”
Ted’s Quest to Bring Robo‑Brains to the Rig
Ted grew up in a mining family and sees the drilling crew as a labor bottleneck.
In the U.S., the drilling industry’s payroll makes up roughly 60 % of the cost. There simply isn’t enough drill‑techs to keep the business running cheap.
Typical on‑site crew: Two to three people.- One or two keep the machine fed with pipe and fluid.- The other, the drill‑checker, monitors gauges, listens to the rig, and sways the machine as if it were a drunken dancer.“He’s essentially translating mystical rock‑signals into company‑wide jargon,” Feldmann notes.Ted believes automation can swing this cost in the right direction. A smart, robotic system could read feedback and adjust parameters with the precision of a well‑tuned orchestra.
Durin’s Funding Spark
To kick things off, Durin has secured $3.4 million in a pre‑seed round. The round was led by 8090 Industries, with a star‑studded cast: 1517, Andreessen Horowitz, Bedrock, Champion Hill, Contrary, Day One Ventures, and Lux Capital.
Bottom Line
In a nutshell, mining isn’t just digging for gold – it’s a costly dance of hope, data, and an ever‑odd crew. Ted’s solution? Let the machines do the heavy lifting and free up human talent for more creative rock‑picking.
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Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.
Durin’s Deep Dive: Building the Future of Drilling
What’s the Buzz?
Durin’s first drilling rig, introduced earlier this year, isn’t just a piece of heavy machinery—it’s a mini-tower of innovation. With a 300‑meter reach and a 2.5‑inch shaft, it’s the next step toward drilling without the whole crew in the middle of the action.
How It Works
- DIY drill: Still hand‑operated, but flooded with sensors that collect data on every twist and turn.
- Data‑driven future: All that info will help the team train a robot guide for running the rig by itself.
- Completely automated pipe loading: As the drill pushes deeper, the machine will load new pipe pieces automatically—no manual hauling, just smooth, metal-moving.
On the Road to Automation
Durin is kicking off its first real‑world drilling program. By year‑end, Feldmann expects enough data points to start a solid automation model.
In roughly two to three years, the mantra will shift from “who’s on the rig?” to “who’s monitoring it?”
What Field Workers Will Do Next
Even with robotic drags, humans won’t entirely disappear. Feldmann predicts that teams will:
- Deliver supplies on the fly.
- Keep a close eye on progress from a safe distance.
- Retrieve the final core samples when the sun sets.
CEO’s Bottom Line
“We’re not just trimming manpower; we’re ditching the idea that people must stand around while the rig does the heavy lifting,” Feldmann says, hinting that the future of drilling is all about efficiency—and maybe a bit of extra time for coffee.
