I wonder how this would work in hard rock mining? Hard rock, AKA 'competent rock' is often encountered in mineral extraction. A deposit is often deep in the ground - so an 'open pit', AKA 'open cast' mine would need a huge pit - 500-1000 or more to be opened to reach the ore. Currently this is done by drill/blast methods to create a ramp large enough for a mine truck(battery powered) is driven to the face of the deposit where the ore is drilled and blasted into moveable fragments (AKA 'muck') which is then moved to the surface by these trucks. The ones shown here state they are small in size - what is the largest? Can it work in competent rock - granites etc? Can 4 - 36 inch small tunnels be driven within a ~~ a foot of each other and then caved to a squarish cross section that can be squared? It is an interesting idea. The Las Vegas underground rock is very fragile compared to the competent rock encountered in mineral exploration at depth = might not work well in the hard rock. These deep rocks are often well below the water table = high pressure water that is must operate within or pump out = hard if fractured?

It sounded like the article writer was very much impressed by the achievement of digging holes more safely than other methods, whilst conveniently ignoring the scale of the tunnels each can build. 'Gearmusk' seems to be a fansite

Title is confusing because this seems to have nothing to do with mining (as in mineral extraction), but is instead about "zero people in tunnel" tunneling.

This paragraphs is also quite funny:

> This positions The Boring Company’s Zero-People-in-Tunnel technology within Elon Musk’s broader ecosystem of transportation innovations—from Tesla’s electric vehicles to autonomous driving systems, and potentially Hyperloop concepts.

Mentioning "Hyperloop concepts" as a positive example of innovation seems like a huge red flag.

Overall, this reads like a Boring Company press release.

I’ve heard tunneling is outrageously expensive and it’ll be cool when that cost plummets to wear and tear on the machine and the cost of concrete and rebar. I wonder if they make the concrete rings onsite or truck them in?