The U.S. Department of Agriculture is guaranteeing a $25 million loan to Milford Mining Company Utah (MMCU) to expand its copper mining and processing operation in Milford, a deal the agency says will create roughly 100 new jobs and double the mine’s copper throughput by the end of 2027.
USDA Rural Development Utah State Director Stan Summers announced the financing September 9 through the agency’s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, which backs private lending to rural businesses in communities of fewer than 50,000 people. The 16.5-year loan will be privately funded through Magnolia Guaranteed Lending, a division of Kentucky-based Magnolia Bank, and remains subject to closing conditions. MMCU said the capital will modernize processing equipment, eliminate operational bottlenecks and increase overall production capacity at its Beaver County complex.
“We are proud to support investments that create economic opportunity and strengthen communities across rural Utah,” Summers says. “This financing will help Milford Mining invest in its operations, create new jobs and support long-term economic growth in the region.”
A rapid buildout since 2024
The loan guarantee is the latest step in a fast climb for MMCU, which restarted copper production in 2024 after the mine sat mothballed for five years. The company grew from eight employees to 160 within about a year, invested $40 million to modernize its facilities and broke ground on a $200 million expansion that state officials project will create more than 1,000 jobs in Beaver County over the next decade. MMCU now employs roughly 180 workers, and the new financing would push its headcount higher still. The company’s earlier expansion also drew a state tax incentive through Utah’s Rural Economic Development Tax Increment Financing program in 2024, and in July 2025 Rio Tinto Kennecott agreed to loan MMCU $5 million to support the mine’s restart and deliver copper concentrate to its Salt Lake City smelter, an arrangement that helped establish MMCU’s supply chain before this larger federal financing arrived.
Betting on more than copper
MMCU is also positioning itself as more than a single-commodity producer. Four months before the USDA announcement, the company 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, pairing its Beaver County assets with an electric-resistance furnace process that relies primarily on electricity rather than acid-intensive methods, according to TechBuzz News. MMCU has cited its plans as consistent with the Trump administration’s March 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to boost domestic mineral production, a policy thread that has followed the company since Sen. John Curtis toured its facilities early last year.
“This financing represents an important milestone for the long-term future of our operations in Utah,” MMCU Chairman Roger Barris says. “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.”
The financing follows a year-long underwriting process that included third-party appraisals and a review of MMCU’s business plan, permitting and environmental status, according to the company. If the deal closes as structured, MMCU’s copper throughput and valuation are expected to double by the end of 2027, adding to a Beaver County workforce that has grown twentyfold in under three years.
This article was adapted from a press release by an automated tool and reviewed and edited by an editor for accuracy before publication.
