We invite you to register on our platform and characterize your technological solution, so you can participate in the open innovation processes that we carry on for the main mining companies in the country

Register here
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STATUS:

CLOSED

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DEADLINE:

June 15, 2023

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CLOSING TIME:

16:00 (UTC-4)

Global Water Challenge

BHP’s vision is for a water secure world by 2030. 

 

Water is an integral and vital resource for BHP’s production and operations. We cannot operate without it. We use water in many ways, but We know we have a responsibility to effectively manage our water interactions and avoid or minimize our potential or actual adverse impacts on water resources. We also recognize the importance of working with others to enable more effective water governance and stewardship across the communities, Local & Indigenous Business, regions, and countries where we operate. 

  

To make this vision a reality, we all have a role to play. That is why we have launched the “Global Water Challenge”, an international open call that seeks to identify and de-risk disruptive water treatment solutions to sustainably enhance water efficiencyand help us reach our sustainable development goals and commitments.

  

Now is the time for us all to think big and take action to tackle the challenges facing water. Effective water stewardship must begin within our operated assets. From there, we can more credibly collaborate with others toward solutions to shared water challenges as well as strengthen the relationship with Local & Indigenous communities through reciprocity and partnerships that will allow us to achieve mutual benefits for the future, aligned with our company purpose “Bringing People and Resources Together to Build a Better World”. 

Challenges

Minimize brine discharge from the reverse osmosis plant – Escondida

Disruptive solutions are sought to reducing the brine discharge to the ocean generated in the reverse osmosis process
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Treatment of Acidic Pit Lake Waters – Legacy Assets

Disruptive solutions are sought to treat the acidic water accumulated in the pit to recover value, to regulate cumulative volume, and to enable discharge as an ecosystem booster through a sustainable long-term-treatment process.
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Treatment of hypersaline groundwater – Nickel West

Disruptive solutions are sought to treat hypersaline groundwater to obtain high-quality water for mining-related uses at Nickel West Northern Operations, like leach, with the aim to reduce make-up water.
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Treatment of neutral brine effluent from leaching operations ​ – Nickel West

Disruptive solutions are sought to treat the stream from the neutralization stage of the process. The targeted treated water quality should enable reuse of the water in leaching operation.
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Treatment and reuse of brines recovered from tailing storage facilities (TSF) – Olympic Dam

Disruptive solutions are sought to minimizing or eliminating the use of evaporation ponds in the Olympic Dam asset by treating the brines generated in the production process and that are contained in the tailing storage facilities (TSF).
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Who can apply?

Companies, startups, institutes, research centers or other entities that are legally incorporated pursuant to the current legislation in their country of origin.

Milestones

Awarding

The awarded companies will be able to work together on the next steps for BHP such as a Proof of Concept, Controlled Environment Test and/or industrial pilot on a potential BHP asset.

Partners

At Enterprise Innovation & Decarb Procurement  of BHP, our objective as a sourcing function is to bring the best of the innovation world to BHP, to solve current problems that need a solution or optimization. The area enables an Open Innovation methodology at BHP to access technological and business capabilities to solve operational challenges. It does this by identifying and prioritizing critical business challenges, aligned with BHP’s priorities, and launching them to the market, not by specifying a product or service, but by asking for a solution. It then awards an on-site pilot to demonstrate that the solution is viable. 

Expande seeks to promote the development of ecosystems that allow the creation of virtuous circles between the challenges of the natural resources industry and innovative solutions from local and international companies. Under a model of open innovation and associativity, we seek that companies and suppliers capture value for their businesses through the incorporation and implementation of technologies. 

Fundación Chile is a public-private organization whose purpose is fostering the transformation of Chile towards sustainable development. For more than 45 years, it has collaboratively created innovative, high-impact solutions for the country, addressing local challenges with a global reach. It has been pioneer enhancing and enabling different productive sectors, such as the aquaculture industry, the agro– industrial sector, the movement towards renewable energies such as solar power, the first venture capital funds in Latin America, among others.