--- title: Mariana Minerals stood up a 400-acre autonomous copper mine on private 5G in ~35 days date: 2026-07-23T16:11:00+10:00 author: Pradhyum Ramkumar canonical_url: "https://celona.io/resources/mariana-minerals-autonomous-copper-mine-private-5g" section: Resources --- / Case Study | Mining | Mariana Minerals # Mariana Minerals stood up a 400-acre autonomous copper mine on private 5G in ~35 days At Copper One in San Juan County, Utah, Mariana Minerals needed site-wide connectivity for an autonomous copper mine — fast. Celona private 5G replaced legacy Wi-Fi and manual data collection, covering the full 400-acre site with five outdoor radios in roughly 35 days from the first conversation, and became the communications backbone for MarianaOS. ![Hero copper one](https://celona.io/volumes/images/hero_copper_one.jpg) ~35 days first conversation to live private 5G 400 acres covered site-wide 5 radios outdoor APs cover the whole mine Edgeless AerFlex — no on-site edge appliance / At a glance ## A 400-acre autonomous mine, live in ~35 days. ### \_01 The Challenge - Site-wide coverage needed across 400 acres of open-pit terrain - Legacy Wi-Fi and manual data collection couldn't keep up - Autonomous drills, haulers, and handhelds all needed to connect - New mines can't come online fast enough on legacy tooling — and they needed it fast ### \_02 The Solution - Celona private 5G across the full site with just five outdoor radios - Edgeless AerFlex deployment — no on-site edge appliance - Connects straight to existing switches and any backhaul (even Starlink) - The communications backbone for MarianaOS ### \_03 The Outcome - Private 5G live in roughly 35 days from first conversation - At go-live: fleet & asset tracking, precision drill-coordinate feeds, remote autonomous-drill control - Real-time data into MarianaOS, replacing periodic manual reporting - Foundation for autonomy: self-driving haul trucks, live geological data, continuous digital-twin updates / Proof > Celona 5G LAN gives us the connectivity foundation required to run a modern mining operation — one where every asset is connected and every decision is driven by real-time data. — Turner Caldwell, Co-Founder & CEO, Mariana Minerals ## About Mariana Minerals The U.S. imports about half the copper it refines, while demand from data centers, the grid, EVs, and defense climbs sharply — and new mines can't come online fast enough on legacy tooling. That's the backdrop for Mariana Minerals, a Bay Area, software-first minerals company that engineers, builds, and operates its own mines and refineries, using proprietary AI/ML to move faster. Copper One, its copper mine and refinery in San Juan County, Utah, is where Mariana set out to run an autonomy-first operation. As co-founder and CEO Turner Caldwell puts it: "The U.S. has a copper problem and a narrow window to fix it." Closing that window starts with connectivity across the whole site. ## What they needed, and how fast Mariana came to Celona with a clear ask: full wireless coverage across roughly 400 acres of open-pit terrain, replacing legacy Wi-Fi and manual data collection — and they needed it quickly. The site runs a lot of automation, from autonomous drills to workers with handhelds to haul equipment, and the operation depends on knowing precisely where every asset is at any moment. That isn't only an efficiency question. Copper One runs planned blasts in different locations, so real-time positioning of people and machines is a safety requirement. ## A private 5G backbone for MarianaOS Instead of stitching together Wi-Fi across the pit, Celona put down a single private 5G layer built for industrial performance. The whole 400-acre site is covered by just five outdoor radios. Data flows continuously into MarianaOS, Mariana's software-defined mining platform, where it powers real-time monitoring, analytics, and decisions across the operation. At go-live the network already carried fleet and asset tracking, precision drill-coordinate feeds to autonomous drilling equipment, and remote control of autonomous drills — a single operator can manage multiple drills from the control room. ## Live in about 35 days The speed came from the architecture. Celona is an edgeless AerFlex deployment: no on-site edge appliance to rack and configure — the five radios connect straight into the existing switches, over whatever backhaul the site already has, including Starlink. That simplicity showed up in the timeline: - The RF plan was ready the day after the first call, the bill of materials was set within days, and the PO was issued by the end of the first week. - The partner pre-staged the equipment and shipped it to site. - Celona was on site for the survey to fix the exact radio locations. - The radios went up on poles, and bring-up and validation wrapped shortly after. Roughly 35 days, first conversation to a live network covering the whole mine. ## Foundation for what's next Reliable, site-wide connectivity is the foundation Mariana's autonomy-first roadmap builds on: self-driving haul trucks, real-time geological data feeding back to the control room, and continuous updates to the site's digital twin that improve drilling accuracy and fragmentation. The private 5G layer supports not just today's tracking and monitoring, but future automation, machine learning, and more autonomous systems. Copper One is Mariana's second active project, alongside Lithium One, a GWh-scale lithium extraction facility under construction in East Texas. At a Glance Customer**Mariana Minerals** Vertical**Mining** Facility**Copper One — 400-acre copper mine & refinery** Location**San Juan County, Utah** Spectrum**CBRS / private 5G** Solution - Celona private 5G — full-site coverage - **5×** Celona outdoor APs - Edgeless AerFlex — no on-site edge appliance - Connects to existing switches / any backhaul (incl. Starlink) - Communications backbone for MarianaOS / Related resources ## Go deeper More resources on private wireless for the enterprise. [Case Studies NEW ### Global data center hyperscaler needing deterministic wireless at a AI-dense server floor A global hyperscaler deployed Celona Orion private 5G across its server floors to give technicians reliable mobility in high-interference AI compute environments — while Wi-Fi continues to serve office and administrative spaces. Data centers · Jul 2026 ](https://celona.io/resources/global-data-center-needs-deterministic-wireless-amidst-rf-interference) [Installation Guide NEW ### Celona AP25-48 installation guide Data centers · Warehousing & logistics · Jul 2026 ](https://celona.io/resources/celona-ap25-48-installation-guide) [Data Sheet NEW ### WAP14 data sheet High-density enterprise Wi-Fi 7, unified with Private 5G through the Celona Orion platform. Data centers · Warehousing & logistics · Jul 2026 ](https://celona.io/resources/wap14-data-sheet) [Access all Resources ](https://celona.io/resources) / Next step ## See what Celona Orion can do for your plant Talk to the team behind Del Conca's deployment, or take the platform for a spin. [ Request a demo → ](https://celona.io/contact-us) [ Explore the platform → ](https://celona.io/manufacturing)