A Chinese mining giant is putting money into AI and humanoid robots.

Zijin Mining’s wholly owned investment arm will commit RMB 1 billion ($140 million) to a new RMB 4.9 billion venture fund focused on artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence, technology applications and other frontier technologies.

The fund is backed by several companies, including CATL’s investment arm and computing infrastructure company EdgeConneX China.

Zijin isn’t trying to become an AI company. It says the investment is mainly about finding technologies that could be used in its own business from mineral exploration and smart mines to processing, safety and operational decisions.

The company has already been testing automation and unmanned systems at its mines, including 5G-enabled autonomous trucks at its copper mine in Tibet.

For a mining company, AI and robotics are not just another investment theme. Mines are large, dangerous and highly physical environments, exactly the kind of places where automation and embodied AI could eventually have a real economic payoff.