Big Dog Mining Book a call

We wrote the daily reports. Now we fix them.

30+ years combined in mining, underground and heavy civil.

Book a call A 20-minute call. We tell you straight if AI fits.
Who we are
Dan Gauerke underground in a hard hat, cap lamp and safety glasses
Dan
Ben Litsey in yellow rain gear, hard hat, cap lamp, safety glasses and ear muffs
Ben
Names
Dan Gauerke, Ben Litsey
Trade
Mining and civil engineers
In the field
30+ years combined
Worked
United States, Mexico, Australia, Colombia
  • 30+years combined, Dan and Ben, mining, underground and heavy civil
  • 10years underground: Dan wrote the dailies before he fixed them
  • 20years Ben spent in heavy civil, underground and mining
  • 65+companies automated in Dan's AI consultancy

Two people, one tally board

The people you talk to are the people who build it.

Dan Gauerke underground in a hard hat, cap lamp and safety glasses Dan Gauerke today, in a dark suit jacket
In the minesRuns the firm

Founder

Dan Gauerke

Dan started in the coal mines as a laborer. He worked salt, gold and emerald mines, learned to run every machine underground, and worked his way up: shift boss, mining engineer, project engineer, project controller, superintendent, project manager. Ten years with underground mining contractors in the United States, Australia and Colombia.

He has been on both sides of the daily report: writing it at the face after twelve hours, and chasing miners from the office for what they left out.

Now he runs the firm. He taught himself to code after shift on his last job, in the Colombian jungle, then built an AI consultancy that automated admin work for 65+ companies. Big Dog Mining brings that back to the trade he came from.

LinkedIn

Ben Litsey in yellow rain gear, hard hat, cap lamp, safety glasses and ear muffs Ben Litsey today, in a dark suit jacket
In the fieldRuns the firm

Partner

Ben Litsey

Ben started as a civil engineer and spent twenty years in heavy civil, underground and mining, including two years helping open the Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua, Mexico. He moved on to engineer and estimator on underground work, then construction and engineering manager. Ben and Dan met working in the same contractor's mining department.

Now he runs the firm with Dan. Ben leads our conversations with owners and operators, and he speaks their language because he has done their jobs.

LinkedIn

Underground, every miner hangs a brass tag on the board going in and takes it off coming out. Those are ours.

The road here

From the face to the office, and back.

  1. A dragline working a coal mine at dusk
    Start

    Laborer in the coal mines

    Dan's first job in mining, at the bottom of the crew.

  2. An excavator under lights in a salt mine
    Underground

    Salt, gold and emeralds

    He learned to run every machine underground.

  3. A portal at the bottom of an open pit, where the decline goes underground
    Up the ladder

    Shift boss to project manager

    Shift boss, mining engineer, project engineer, project controller, superintendent, project manager. Ten years with underground mining contractors in the United States, Australia and Colombia.

  4. Emerald in host rock, held in a miner's hands
    Colombia

    Code at night, after shift

    On his last job he taught himself to code, late at night in the Colombian jungle.

  5. Before Big Dog Mining

    65+ companies automated

    An AI consultancy taking admin work off people's desks. The same operating system now runs our own companies: 4,871 emails read and sorted and about 860 hours of work done, counted October 17, 2026.

  6. Now

    Big Dog Mining, with Ben

    Back to our roots: AI for mining, heavy civil, geotechnical and drilling companies.

Why we do this

We build and sell agentic ecosystems that save time and money where it matters most, so they can make more money and have more time.
Dan Gauerke, founder

In our world that means crews run the job, not the paperwork. The daily gets written once, and the people who decide see the numbers the same morning. What owners do with the time and money they get back is up to them.

What people in the trade say.

I've worked for them inside the government and they do not have anything like this, that's for sure.
Scott Chest, Harrison Western
You guys are light years in front of me.
AJ, Kiewit
The analytics are better than I've ever seen.
Project manager, underground drilling contractor, Canada

The Pulse

Mining news worth knowing, every two weeks.

Free. One-click unsubscribe in every issue. You also get our list of the eight things contractors automate first.

Back on the surface

Talk to the people who wrote the daily reports.

A 20-minute call. We ask how your daily report moves today, and we tell you straight if AI fits. If it does not, we say so on the call.

Book a call A 20-minute call. We tell you straight if AI fits.
Watch the presentation The deck Dan shows owners. Sound on.
How we work Find the money. Prove it. Run it.

We sign your NDA before we see anything. Rather write? dan@bigdogmining.com