Full-Time
Process Safety Engineer
Mariana Minerals
51-200 employees
Software-driven mineral exploration and supply
No salary listed
Houston, TX, USA
In Person
Bachelor's, Master's
 Process Engineering |
|---|
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- A B.S. or higher in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy, Fire Protection Engineering, Safety Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- At least 5 years of relevant experience in process safety, process engineering, plant design, operations, commissioning, environmental health and safety, or risk management in minerals, mining/metallurgy, chemicals, specialty materials, oil and gas, manufacturing, pilot plants, or lab-to-commercial scale-up environments.
- Hands-on experience supporting or facilitating Process Hazard Analyses, Hazard and Operability Studies, Hazard Identification Studies, Layers of Protection Analyses, Management of Change, Pre-Startup Safety Reviews, incident investigations, formal risk assessments, or similar structured risk management processes.
- Ability to read and interpret Process Flow Diagrams, Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams, layouts, equipment data sheets, operating procedures, control narratives, chemical inventories, and safety-critical design information.
- Working knowledge of process safety and facility safety requirements such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration Process Safety Management, Environmental Protection Agency Risk Management Program, International Fire Code and International Building Code concepts, National Fire Protection Association standards, pressure systems, hazardous materials, electrical safety, fire protection, ventilation, and emergency planning.
- Strong technical writing, meeting facilitation, action tracking, data organization, and communication skills.
- Ability to challenge assumptions constructively, document decisions clearly, and translate risk assessment outputs into practical controls, design inputs, procedures, and field actions.
- Ability to work in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, wear multiple hats, and balance program administration with field-facing technical support.
- Administer process safety management and major hazard risk management workflows, including risk study planning, pre-work, facilitation, documentation, action tracking, closeout verification, and process development or improvement.
- Lead or support Process Hazard Analyses, Hazard and Operability Studies, Hazard Identification Studies, Layers of Protection Analyses, what-if/checklist studies, bowties, formal risk assessments, and other structured reviews for lab, pilot, project, and operating systems, and assist in developing these tools.
- Support Management of Change and Pre-Startup Safety Review processes by reviewing technical changes, startup readiness, critical safeguards, training needs, procedures, and open action status.
- Review Process Flow Diagrams, Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams, equipment specifications, operating envelopes, control narratives, layouts, chemical inventories, and utility interfaces to identify process safety and facility design implications.
- Provide engineering input on life safety, fire protection, hazardous materials, ventilation, detection and alarming, emergency shutdown, pressure relief, containment, and occupancy or hazard classification questions.
- Partner with internal subject-matter experts, external engineers, insurers, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction to clarify applicable code requirements and translate them into actionable design or operational requirements.
- Develop and maintain process safety information, hazard registers, safeguard and independent protection layer libraries, action trackers, process safety management procedures, risk assessment templates, decision logs, and program metrics.
- Evaluate safeguards and risk reduction actions using the hierarchy of controls, independent protection layer concepts, reliability assumptions, field verification, and practical implementation constraints.
- Support incident investigations, root cause analysis, corrective action development, lessons learned, and verification that systemic risk controls are implemented.
- Embed process safety expectations into project planning, commissioning, operating procedures, training, contractor scopes, field execution, and routine operations.
- Support broader Health and Safety initiatives as needed, including Hazard Communication, contractor safety, emergency response planning, field audits, safety observations, training, and procedure development.
- Professional certifications or specialized training such as Professional Engineer, Certified Safety Professional, Certified Process Safety Professional, Certified Fire Protection Specialist, HAZOP/LOPA facilitation training, or equivalent process safety credentials.
- Experience with pilot plants, lab-scale hazards, scale-up projects, hazardous materials permitting, fire/life safety coordination, commissioning, or operational readiness.
Mariana Minerals is a software-first minerals company focused on identifying, acquiring, exploring, and supplying critical minerals needed for energy, AI, and defense. It uses a proprietary software platform to pinpoint mineral assets with strong potential, then buys mineral rights, develops the resources, and sells them to customers in energy, AI infrastructure, and defense. The company is vertically integrated, handling everything from asset acquisition to development and supply, which sets it apart from traditional mines that don’t leverage digital tools or own the full value chain. Its main goal is to rebuild and secure the United States’ domestic supply chain for these strategic resources, addressing national security and vulnerability in global mineral markets.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series B
Total Funding
$395M
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
Founded
2024
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Copper One already restarted and ramping toward 50,000 metric tons of refined copper.
- Autonomous drills from Sandvik and trucks from Pronto shorten timelines and reduce labor dependence.
- Mariana targets ten commercial projects in ten years, with $400 million total capital now deployed.
What critics are saying
- Copper One paused mining in late 2024 after costs and worker recruitment failures.
- Lithium One targets first-half 2027 production, leaving execution risk unresolved for eighteen months.
- A single-operator autonomy stack concentrates failure risk; one software bug can halt mining, refining, and capital projects.
What makes Mariana Minerals unique
- MarianaOS unifies MineOS, PlantOS, and CapitalProjectOS across Copper One and Lithium One.
- Copper One restarted April 27, 2026 with autonomous haulage, drilling, and robotic sensing.
- Khosla, a16z, Breakthrough, BHP, Mitsubishi, and IQT backed its August 2026 Series B.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Paid Vacation
Remote Work Options
Flexible Work Hours
401(k) Retirement Plan
Wellness Program
Mental Health Support
Conference Attendance Budget
Professional Development Budget
Stock Options
Company Equity
Phone/Internet Stipend
Home Office Stipend
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 41%1 year growth
↑ 41%2 year growth
↑ 78%Mariana Minerals raises $310 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures to accelerate critical minerals production. Aug 03, 2026, 09:00 ET The round funds the expansion of its portfolio of critical minerals projects and further deployment of its software platform, MarianaOS. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Mariana Minerals ("Mariana"), a software-first, vertically integrated critical minerals company, today announced it has raised $310 million in Series B financing. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with continued support from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and new participation from Greenoaks, Halo Fund, Pax Ventures, StepStone Group, BHP Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, Greycroft, General Innovation Capital Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation, In-Q-Tel (IQT), and Earthshot Ventures, with a number of additional strategic capital partners joining the round. This round brings the company's total parent and project capital raised to date to approximately $400 million. Mariana engineers, builds, and operates mines and refineries using its proprietary MarianaOS platform, which integrates capital project execution (CapitalProjectOS), refinery operations (PlantOS), and mine management (MineOS) into a single AI and machine learning stack. MarianaOS compresses traditional 5-to-10 year project execution timelines by roughly half and reduces commissioning timelines well below industry benchmarks. Mariana's Series B financing unlocks continued buildout of the company's active project portfolio, including its flagship sites Copper One in Southeastern Utah and Lithium One in East Texas. Copper One, acquired by Mariana in late 2025, restarted mining operations under autonomous orchestration within 4 months and is ramping toward a production target of 50,000 metric tons of refined copper per year. Lithium One, which broke ground in Q4 2025, is the world's first GWh-scale facility for producing lithium from oil & gas produced water, with commercial production targeted for the first half of 2027. "Critical minerals are the materials that decide whether America builds its own future or keeps depending on China to build it instead. We backed Mariana because Turner is the kind of operator who can actually build and run AI-driven mines and refineries, faster and cleaner than anyone thought possible," said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. "The minerals are there. What's been missing is the will and the AI to run mining and refining autonomously. That's exactly what Turner's team is building and why we backed them from day one." This financing accelerates the company's goal of developing 10 commercial-scale projects in 10 years to strengthen domestic supply of critical minerals. Mariana's project portfolio is designed to be catalytic: each project generates operational data that improves MarianaOS, reducing the cost and time to build and operate the next facility. "The critical minerals race is an execution problem, and we've spent the last two years proving that better software changes the math," said Turner Caldwell, CEO and Co-Founder of Mariana Minerals. "This additional capital lets us move from proving the model to scaling it; the time to build an autonomy-first minerals company, one that actually moves the needle on supply, is now." About Mariana Minerals Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated critical minerals company that builds and operates mines and refineries across the metals that the modern economy depends on. For more information, visit marianaminerals.com. SOURCE Mariana Minerals
The last century was fueled by oil and gas. Turner Caldwell is betting the next century runs on metals. “We’re entering a metals-driven economy,” said Caldwell, CEO and cofounder at Mariana Minerals, a software-focused mining startup. “Lithium and copper are going to be core, but our mandate needs to be broader than that. We’re starting …
Mariana Minerals has resumed mining operations at the Copper One project in south-eastern Utah, marking the first global site to use autonomous tools across mining, refining and project execution managed by a single operating system. Mariana acquired the 10,000-acre site in late 2025 after purchasing Lisbon Valley Mining Company. Mining had been suspended in late 2024 due to rising costs and worker recruitment challenges, though refinery operations continued. The restart employs MarianaOS, integrating autonomous systems including Pronto's camera-based autonomous haul trucks, Sandvik's remote-controlled drilling, and Boston Dynamics' Spot robots for site patrols. PlantOS optimises refining using real-time data and machine learning. Mariana aims to increase production to 50,000 tonnes per annum of high-purity copper cathode by 2030.
Sandvik supplies autonomous drill rig head to Mariana Minerals' Copper One mine. Sandvik Mining has secured an order to supply a DR410i rotary drill rig, equipped for autonomous operation, to Mariana Minerals' Copper One mine in Utah, USA. The order was booked in 1Q26 and has been delivered to site, with commissioning of AutoMine(R) Surface Drilling ongoing. The project marks the beginning of a collaboration between Sandvik and Mariana Minerals to explore and advance autonomous surface drilling in a next-generation mining environment. In 1Q26, Mariana Minerals also purchased Deswik Mine Planning software for its Copper One mine, expanding its investment with Sandvik to include digital assets. Mariana Minerals is a vertically integrated, software-led mining company focused on the production of critical minerals. At its Copper One site, the company is developing an 'autonomy-first' operation, where equipment and processes are designed to be integrated into MarianaOS, Mariana's internally developed autonomous orchestration platform. As part of this approach, the Sandvik DR410i will be deployed as an autonomous-ready drill, with the rig integrated into MarianaOS using the high-resolution operational and subsurface data to optimise downstream decisions across the mine and processing plan. The Sandvik DR410i is a compact and high-performance rotary blasthole drill rig for surface mining, capable of drilling 152 - 251 mm holes. It features Sandvik's iSeries architecture and DRi system. The latter enables real-time data capture and supporting drill planning, execution, and analysis. With AutoMine(R) Surface Drilling, Sandvik currently offers fully autonomous surface drilling, allowing multiple rigs to operate autonomously from a remote control room. This solution enhances safety by removing personnel from the drill site, while improving consistency, utilisation, and overall productivity. Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining, said: "This project reflects a shared ambition to advance the role of automation in surface mining. By working closely with Mariana Minerals, we have the opportunity to further develop our autonomous drilling capabilities while supporting a new approach to mine design and operation." Turner Caldwell, CEO of Mariana Minerals, added: "Our vision is to build mining operations where autonomy is embedded from day one. Integrating Sandvik's drill platform into our broader system architecture is an important step towards creating a more connected and adaptive operation at Copper One." Beyond the initial equipment delivery, both companies are working towards continued collaboration as the Copper One project develops and as Mariana Minerals progresses additional projects in North America. Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):
Mariana and Sandvik to launch autonomous drilling in Utah. The collaboration integrates Sandvik's AutoMine Surface Drilling platform directly into MarianaOS. 24th Apr 2026 Mariana Minerals and Sandvik have entered into a partnership to implement autonomous drilling technology at Mariana's Copper One mine in south-eastern Utah, US. The collaboration integrates Sandvik's AutoMine Surface Drilling platform directly into MarianaOS, Mariana's proprietary software. Functioning as part of a unified system rather than independently, AutoMine links drilling activities with the overall mining operation. Continuous streams of drill activity, machine telemetry and geological data feed into MarianaOS, aiding decision-making across the site. The integration supports Mariana's goal of creating a fully autonomous, technology-focused mining operation in the US. Mariana Minerals CEO Turner Caldwell said: "The drill is where the mine begins. When you integrate it into your operating system, it doesn't just execute a plan - it informs and improves everything that follows. "That is the shift from automation to autonomy. Sandvik gives us the platform, and MarianaOS turns it into a system that learns. That is what we are building at Copper One." AutoMine performs essential tasks such as full-power drilling and pipe handling, while MarianaOS leverages detailed operational and subsurface data to improve downstream decision-making. Information on drill performance and geological signals feeds into models refining blast design, material routing, maintenance and production planning, creating a system where drilling outcomes consistently enhance subsequent actions. The move towards autonomous drilling alters on-site practices. Operators shift from manually handling machines to managing coordinated, software-led fleets. This transition introduces new technical roles to enhance system performance, ensure data quality and optimise operations, allowing teams to concentrate on strategic decisions while retaining oversight. With the US importing around 50% of refined copper and domestic demand expected to double by 2035 due to technological advancements, Mariana and Sandvik aim to fast-track domestic operations. Sandvik Mining president Mats Eriksson said: "Sandvik AutoMine transforms the mining process, delivering safer, more productive and insightful drilling operations. "Pairing AutoMine with MarianaOS will unlock new levels of efficiency and safety for the Copper One mine, and we are delighted to support Mariana Minerals as they develop this important site." Earlier this month, Sandvik launched the DD423i, a next-generation automated development drill rig, marking a significant advancement in underground mining technology. Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.