Challenging Canadian Innovators to modernize century-old mining processes

Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, recently went to Sudbury, ON, to challenge Canadian innovators to develop new clean technology solutions that cut energy consumption for crushing mined rock — a process that currently accounts for up to three percent of the entire world’s electricity generation.

The $10-million Crush It! Challenge tackles the disproportionate amount of energy used in mining to extract valuable minerals. This process has not fundamentally changed in more than a century; consumes more than 50 percent of the total energy used in a mining operation; is the industry’s largest operational cost; and is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions from mining.

During the 25-month Crush It! Challenge, up to 12 semi-finalists will be selected to pitch their concept at Goldcorp Inc.’s #DisruptMining event in March 2019, coinciding with the Prospectors & Developers Association Convention. A Challenge Jury made up of key experts from the Canadian mining sector will select the top six finalists, who will each receive up to $800,000 to build and test their cleantech solution. Ultimately, the Challenge Jury will choose the best breakthrough clean technology and award the winner a $5-million prize grant.

“Innovation is a cornerstone of our approach to continuous improvement at Goldcorp. Comminution has not fundamentally changed for a long time and is ripe for disruption, so we are thrilled to see government partner in spurring innovation,” said Ivan Mullany, senior vice president Technical Services, Goldcorp.

“Together, we are striving for more sustainable approaches to mining, and we look forward to seeing what new ideas surface through both #DisruptMining and the Crush It! Challenge.”

This initiative will mobilize new ideas from inside and outside the mining industry to modernize an important energy consuming process and will grow the cleantech sector to enhance Canada’s mining innovation ecosystem as part of the Government of Canada’s efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy.

Visit the Crush It! Challenge website for details.