- The “Zero Dust Startup Call” seeks to identify ideas, proposals, and technologies and is geared towards monitoring and modeling particulate matter, as well as eliminating emissions of particulate matter.
- Applications will be open until April 13 at the expandemineria.cl site. The winners will be eligible for a final prize of US$ 10,000.
Santiago, March 5, 2020 – The initiative “Zero Dust Startup Call” was launched in a joint effort between the natural resources company, BHP and Expande, the Open Innovation Program in Mining.
This project is geared towards entrepreneurs at early stages, or academics with ideas, conceptual proposals, or technologies, that are not available in the market for two major operational challenges: the monitoring and modeling of particulate matter; and radical reduction and/or elimination of particulate matter.
It is worth mentioning that this initiative is running in parallel with the supplier’s challenge, also ran BHP and Expande. Both projects seek to promote greater sustainability in the industry, driving changes to advance in environmental responsibility, and generating social value.
Patricio Hidalgo, general manager of Mina and Minera Spence’s NPI, states that, “Day after day we are investing resources, and our teams deploy actions to measure and mitigate dust. Today, we want to be at the forefront of an industry that must open up and listen to alternatives that may allow us to solve this, as well as other issues in pursuit to having a cleaner and more efficient mining production, and therefore generating social value. This way, we are fulfilling our purpose of bridging the gap between people and resources to build a better world.
On the other hand, Andrés Mitnik, Expande’s Business Director, added that, “Through this call, we hope to identify and promote technological solutions that allow us to radically change the way we approach dust monitoring and control issues. This is an example of how open innovation currently allows us to promote the ideas or technologies that will change the industry in the future, without having to wait until they are in the market to only then start thinking about how to implement them”.
Three contestants per each line of work will have the opportunity to present their proposals in May 2020, in a format yet to be defined, where a jury of experts will select the one that best meets the company’s requirements, with each line having access to a final prize of US$ 10,000.
Applications are open until April 13, at www.expandemineria.cl. In addition, those interested may participate in a question and answer workshop that will be held on March 23, via WebEx.
