Milford Mining Secures $25 Million USDA-Backed Loan to Double Copper Production in Rural Utah

Milford, Utah — September 9, 2026

Milford Mining Company Utah (MMCU) has received a conditional commitment for $25 million in financing from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Business & Industry Loan Guarantee Program, capital the company says will fund equipment upgrades, remove operational bottlenecks and double its copper throughput and valuation by the end of 2027.

It's the latest chapter in a rapid buildout for the Beaver County producer, which just over two years ago was a dormant mine. MMCU restarted copper production in May 2024 after a five-year hiatus, and by the following spring had grown from eight employees to 160, invested $40 million to modernize its facilities and broken ground on a $200 million expansion projected to create more than 1,000 jobs in the county over the next decade. The company now employs roughly 180 people, and the new financing is expected to add about 100 more jobs as the expansion moves forward — pushing the workforce toward the milestones it laid out in that earlier growth plan.

The 16.5-year loan will be privately financed through Magnolia Guaranteed Lending, a division of Kentucky-based Magnolia Bank and a USDA-approved lender, pending completion of applicable conditions. The commitment follows a year-long underwriting process that included third-party appraisals and a review of MMCU's business plan, management, permitting and environmental status.

"This financing represents an important milestone for the long-term future of our operations in Utah," said Roger Barris, chairman of MMCU. "With the support of Magnolia Guaranteed Lending and the USDA loan guarantee program, we will make significant investments that strengthen our ability to supply copper and other critical minerals to American industry. Just as importantly, we will support the creation of new jobs and continued economic opportunity."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins framed the deal as part of a broader push to direct capital into rural industry. "This $25 million dollar financing demonstrates what is possible when we put capital to work in rural communities, strengthen American industry, and support the hardworking men and women who power our economy," Rollins said, calling MMCU "the kind of homegrown American enterprise that creates opportunity, strengthens local economies, and helps advance our nation's domestic mineral supply chains."

USDA Utah State Director Stan Summers echoed that the financing would "help Milford Mining invest in its operations, create new jobs and support long-term economic growth in the region."

Building a multi-commodity platform

The USDA financing lands four months after MMCU signed a memorandum of understanding with Osaka-based Furnace Japan Co. to pilot technology for recovering tungsten and other critical minerals from the mine's historical tailings — a project that positioned MMCU as more than a single-commodity copper operation. That partnership paired MMCU's Beaver County assets, including legacy tungsten deposits, with Furnace Japan's electric resistance furnace technology, which relies primarily on electrical energy rather than acid-intensive processing.

The new financing reinforces that same multi-commodity strategy. Beyond copper, MMCU says its fully permitted mining and processing facility hosts precious metals including tungsten and antimony, along with other rare earth elements, across a 62,000-acre property the company describes as having significant untapped exploration potential. Company leadership has increasingly cast MMCU as a platform that can deliver copper production today while building toward a broader critical-minerals pipeline — a framing that traces back to the AI-driven efficiency platform and apprenticeship programs the company touted during its 2025 relaunch.

The financing also ties into federal policy: MMCU cited alignment with the Trump administration's March 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to boost domestic mineral production, a theme that has run through the company's public narrative since Senator John Curtis toured its upgraded facilities in early 2025 and, more recently, since Governor Spencer Cox praised the Furnace Japan partnership as evidence of Utah's growing role in domestic mineral supply chains.

A pattern of escalating milestones

Taken together, the last 16 months trace a consistent arc for MMCU:

• May 2025 — Following its 2024 restart, MMCU reports growing to 160 employees and investing $40 million in facility upgrades, with a $200 million expansion underway.
• May 2026 — MMCU partners with Furnace Japan to pilot tailings-recovery technology, expanding its identity from copper producer to multi-commodity critical-minerals platform.
• September 2026 — MMCU secures a conditional $25 million USDA-backed loan to double copper throughput and valuation by the end of 2027, with plans to add roughly 100 jobs to its now-180-person workforce.

Each step has layered onto the last: workforce growth funding operational scale, operational scale attracting an international technology partner, and that broadened mineral portfolio now underpinning a federally backed loan aimed at doubling output. For a mine that sat idle as recently as 2019, the USDA financing suggests MMCU's momentum — and Beaver County's standing in the state's critical-minerals push — is still accelerating.

For more information about Milford Mining Company Utah, visit milfordmining.com or view video below: