Ted Feldmann, founder of Durin, is building autonomous drill rigs to slash the cost and time of mineral exploration drilling — a critical bottleneck in the domestic critical minerals supply chain. The episode traces his path from a mining family through internships at IperionX and MP Materials to founding a hard-tech startup that aims to automate the most labor-intensive, expensive part of exploration, while also giving mining a “SpaceX-style” brand to attract top talent.
Ted’s background and path to mining technology
Grew up with father and uncle in mining; earliest memory at age six or seven wearing a coal project company hat.
Interned at IperionX (titanium mineral sands in Tennessee) at 17, researching the titanium supply chain and discovering nearly all defense-grade titanium flowed through Russia or China — a national security concern that sparked his interest in critical minerals.
Fell in love with geology and the “treasure hunt” of mineral exploration: combining soil sampling, geophysics, and drilling to solve the puzzle of whether an economic deposit exists.
Interned at MP Materials (Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California) for nearly two years, working downstream on magnet composition software while gaining visibility into mining and processing operations.
MP Materials and the rare earths landscape
MP operates the only rare earth mine in the US (Mountain Pass, ~45 minutes SW of Las Vegas); rare earth deposits exist everywhere but rarely at high enough grade and volume to justify a mine.
Mountain Pass history: mined since 1940s/50s, owned by Chevron, then Molycorp (went public, spent heavily on separation facility, went bankrupt post-GFC because the tech didn’t work).
Rare earths are a subset of 50 critical minerals designated by US agencies as strategically important with insufficient domestic mining/processing; the lanthanide series plus sometimes scandium.
Neodymium and praseodymium (light rare earths) make up ~15-20% of permanent magnets in EVs; dysprosium and terbium (heavy rare earths) are ~10x rarer but critical for magnet performance.
Rare earths are chemically similar, making separation extremely difficult; Nd and Pr are often used together without full separation.
Jim Litinsky bought Mountain Pass out of bankruptcy for $25M in 2017, partnered with Chinese investor Shenghe Resources (~8-9% stake) for technical expertise to restart production; MP is now moving downstream to separate and build magnets domestically.
History of exploration drilling technology
Pre-1893: surface deposits or steam-powered rock drills for underground mining (percussive, not core recovery).
1893: first diamond drill hole by Edmund J. Longyear in Minnesota — cylindrical bit with diamond-impregnated soft iron matrix that wears at same rate as diamonds dull.
Pre-1958: entire drill string (rods + bit) had to be tripped out to retrieve core sample.
1958: Wireline drill rig introduced — inner tube inside rods captures core; overshot lowered on wireline latches to inner tube and pulls it up without tripping rods.
Modern rigs are safer and more efficient but fundamentally similar to 1958 technology; no major innovation since because mechanical rotation is still the only way to recover a perfect rock cylinder (high-pressure water or millimeter-wave melting alter the rock).
The drilling cost problem and automation opportunity
Exploration drilling costs ~$250/meter in western US; labor is 50-60% of cost.
Durin targets 80-90% cost reduction eventually; first step: automate the driller’s job (real-time adjustment of RPM, weight on bit, fluid pressure based on rock conditions) — a well-solved problem in oil & gas but unapplied in mining.
Helpers’ tasks (rod handling, overshot operation, core boxing, additive mixing) are next automation targets.
Why no automation yet: OEMs sell to drilling contractors, not exploration companies; their revenue comes from equipment sales and maintenance (McDonald’s ice cream machine incentive), not drilling efficiency; R&D budgets prioritize mine-site electrification over exploration rigs; exploration rigs run on diesel generators off-grid anyway.
Industry structure: exploration to production
Exploration companies (often public on TSXV/ASX) hire geologists, drilling contractors, geophysical contractors, modeling software, brokers, labs, feasibility consultants — 6-7 vendors before permitting even starts.
Permitting adds more consultants; construction adds contractors; operating mines may use mining contractors or self-perform.
Average US timeline from exploration start to producing mine: ~15 years (longer than nuclear reactors), driven by capital constraints forcing serial rather than parallel work.
Exploration returns ~$0.98 per $1 invested historically; most projects fail (1 in 100 to 1 in 1000 become mines).
Robert Friedland quote: “Mining is not an industry for smart people” — but Durin believes engineering-focused tech can change the economics.
Durin’s master plan (Tesla-style phases)
Phase 1: Automate drilling — capture the ~$7-8B/year global exploration drilling market ($1B US, $2B Canada).
Phase 2: Core scanning on-site (hyperspectral/XRF) and downhole geophysics — currently separate contractors, often off-site; Durin’s rig is the one piece of hardware already on-site, best positioned to integrate these at marginal cost.
Phase 3: On-site sample prep and analysis — crush core, assay powder, overnight envelopes to lab instead of shipping heavy core boxes; one trailer/container with scanner, crusher, analytical equipment.
Goal: be the “one-stop shop” for exploration data, making extra data streams like “airplane Wi-Fi” — included by default, undercutting standalone contractors.
Accelerating exploration timelines depends on capital availability; Durin’s flexibility (flex rigs up/down with lean crews) helps larger, better-capitalized companies drill continuously, or helps smaller companies get more done per capital-raise cycle.
Building Durin: first rig, iteration, and go-to-market
Incorporated April 2024 (junior year at Georgia Tech); did Decipulus Ventures accelerator in El Segundo.
First prototype (summer 2024): simple auger bit rented from Home Depot, welded frame, hydraulic press with spin — drilled 5-6 feet to measure rate of penetration and fluid pressure.
First full-scale rig: designed mid-Dec 2024, drilling first hole late March 2025 (~3.5 months build); 17 ft tall, 6 tons, 300m depth capacity, HQ core (2.5”).
Key design choice: programmable rig with API (iPad/Starlink control) instead of physical levers — enables data capture and remote operation, foundation for autopilot software.
Parallel track: robotic rod handler (ready for testing May 2025), then overshot automation, core handling, mud mixing — tackling sub-problems sequentially.
Revenue first: operate as drilling contractor with human operators from day one; drilling is highly profitable (~$10k/day revenue, ~$5k/day opex, ~$3k labor).
Next rig (crawler-mounted, 1000m depth) targeting first revenue August/September 2025; seed raise May 2025; goal: 5 rigs by mid-late 2026 ready for mass manufacture.
Unit economics: ~$400k materials + ~$100k robotics = ~$500k/rig; at $10k/day revenue, payback is fast; industry contractors run 50% margins but suffer seasonal utilization (summer vs winter).
Branding, hiring, and industry relationships
“Mining needs a facelift” — Durin’s brand (graphics, billboard across from SpaceX HQ: “You can’t have rocket science without rock science”) aims to pull SpaceX-caliber engineers and top drillers/geologists.
Billboard was $3k for a month, booked solid for 2 years after; generated buzz, SpaceX employees talked about it, inbound interest.
Hiring filters: (1) resonance with mission/problem, (2) intensity/work ethic for early-stage hard tech; assessed via in-person technical discussions, reaction to feedback, team fit.
First pilot customer: Scott Discoveries (Idaho/Nevada exploration company), introduced via founder network; drilling first holes March 2025 — trust-based industry, multi-million dollar contracts require credibility.
Labor crisis: 50% of US mining workforce retiring 2023-2030; <5% under 30; automation is the only way to close the gap — “mining doesn’t have an automation problem, it has a labor problem.”
Policy tailwinds: Executive Order and government funding
Trump’s March 20, 2025 Executive Order on mineral production: National Energy Dominance Council to identify stalled permitting projects (10-day deadline), prioritize federal lands, leverage DFC and Ex-Im Bank for financing.
Biden admin’s IRA and Defense Production Act funded some good projects (e.g., Talon Metals got $20M for Minnesota nickel exploration — mostly goes to drillers).
Government should engage drilling tech companies like Durin to get more drilling per dollar at the feasibility stage (where capital need is highest and retail interest lowest).
Personal philosophy and formative influences
Parents modeled hard work as the determinant of success; grateful for non-tragic but driven upbringing.
Junior/senior year high school: discovered Peter Thiel, YC Startup School, Zero to One (read in one night Jan/Feb 2020); dual framing of family manufacturing business + tech startup playbook.
LA Tech Week 2022: met Augustus, Cameron, Zayn, Phil, Isaiah — El Segundo ecosystem made starting now feel possible vs waiting until graduation.
Decipulus accelerator (March 2024) was the final push to incorporate.
Applied to Thiel Fellowship (didn’t get it; graduated instead); didn’t apply to YC — knew he was coming to El Segundo, raised angel/pre-seed instead.
Dad drove to Atlanta to convince him not to drop out; agreed to graduate while building.
