Max Werner, Co-founder & CEO, Hades Mining | Slush 2025
summary
Hades Mining builds a laser drilling system that replaces century‑old mechanical drills, targeting the biggest cost in mining — drilling at 50–70% of capex. Lab tests show 50–100× the speed of mechanical drills in hard rock, no cutting‑head wear (eliminating head changes every 100–1000 m), and far higher precision because the beam doesn’t deflect. The company runs in‑house R&D, prototypes are tested in lab conditions, and the goal is to deploy in Europe to raise domestic critical‑minerals production above the current ~5%.
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chapters (5)
- 0:00Europe's mineral crisis
- 1:20Challenges in domestic mining
- 2:07The tech-enabled mining model
- 3:25Inefficiencies in drilling
- 5:24Laser drilling innovation
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