Eramet Ideas is organizing a new edition of its international challenge, focused this year on the selection of innovations for responsible mining.
With this “Responsible Mining Innovation Challenge”, Eramet Ideas is once again proving its ability to stimulate the rapid development of value-creating solutions. To this end, the entity is once again partnering with EIT RawMaterials, a European initiative to support innovation and bring applied R&D closer to the market.
This new edition will highlight and concretize the good ideas in responsible mining around 5 themes:
- An environmentally-friendly exploration;
- Water management;
- Safety and surveillance of mining sites;
- The rehabilitation of mines and biodiversity ;
- The traceability of raw materials.
€50,000k to deploy the solution
The prize for the winner is €50,000 to carry out a POC (Proof Of Concept) with Eramet to test the solution in the field, and possibly deploy it on a larger scale in the Group’s various mines. It’s also an opportunity to benefit from great visibility, both internally and externally, on an international scale. “Scalability, adaptability and ingenuity are the key words for a potentially winning project. That’s why the selection panel is made up of experts from all the Group’s divisions: Environment, Exploration, Industrial Affairs, R&D and Digital Transformation,” explains Marion Lenoir, Head of the Open Innovation Department at Eramet Ideas.
A challenge open to start-ups and SMEs worldwide
The challenge is aimed at start-ups and SMEs from all over the world, proposing solutions with an advanced technological maturity, at least level 5 on the TRL scale (technology readiness level). Following registration, open from June 15 to September 15, 2021, 10 candidates will be selected to pitch their solution to the jury. After this presentation, only 3 candidates will have the opportunity to be coached by Eramet experts to better match their solution to the Group’s specific issues. The winner will be chosen in early 2022.
Already the 3rd edition of the challenge
The Eramet Ideas Open Innovation Challenge, which aims to promote innovative ideas for mining and extractive metallurgy, is now in its third year. The previous edition in 2020 attracted no less than 50 entries and rewarded Sisprobe, an international service company specializing in seismology. Their solution? A new way to monitor the structure and stability of Eramet’s tailings piles, whether at SLN in New Caledonia or Comilog in Gabon, using ambient seismic noise, i.e. the vibrations of the earth. The POC is now in progress.
