I am Mirja Illikainen, professor and research unit leader from University of Oulu, Finland. My research interest is in utilization of mine tailings in geopolymer (alkali-activated) materials . The idea is to use tailings as construction materials, for backfilling or for cover layers for tailings. We are also interested in stabilization of harmful substances in inorganic binding systems.
I am interested in discussion and collaboration in this field!
@millikai We're very excited to have you in the community! All of our research is telling us that the repurposing and extraction of value from tailings is going to be an extremely important strategy for solving the problem of mining waste. We're always interested to learn about new efforts to develop this technology, and we're looking forward to your input going forward.
Hello, my name is Rafael Santos, I am Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph in Canada. I have been working on waste valorization for several years, looking to turn wastes into carbon sinks, building materials, adsorbents, soil amendments, and extracting metals from them. My present approach to developing processes to achieve these goals involves combining process intensification and industrial symbiosis strategies.
Hi all - we have a new section for discussion called Competition Directions! And the first topic there about the possibility of Mining without Mining. We would love to see your feedback there as we develop towards this next phase of the Prize Design!
Hello everyone, my name is Alexander Hazbun. I was working at the National Council of Innovation and Development of Chile in 2015 when I was part of the founder team of this initiative. Very proud that today our project is a reality that could reinvent one of the world's largest industry.
Regarding my background, I am Engineer (UC) and Master in Public Policy (Columbia University). Currently I am Founder/Managing Partner of Inventures, which is a company that supports organizations to develop their digital transformation projects. I am also lecturer of Innovation in Universidad de los Andes of Chile.
It is an honor to be part of this community!
@alexhazbun Great to have you back in the XPRIZE community! We've made a lot of progress on the Prize Design in just the past week and many of the technical and judging-related details are starting to come together. We'll be posting some of that information for comment soon, and we're looking forward to feedback from you and everyone else in the community!
Greetings from Maine. I’m Dave Summers and am now retired after spending 50 years in Rolla, MO where I was on the Mining faculty at what is now Missouri University of Science and Technology. Along the way I ran the Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Center at MS&T for a while, and was involved in the evolution of the application of high-pressure water as it moved from a lab curiosity to the multi-billion dollar industry that it is today (one of those quiet revolutions).
I must confess that were I about 20-years younger I would likely be trying to put a team together to compete, since we were able to demonstrate (often in field applications) several ideas that could help solve the problem. The answers will vary with the answers to some questions, some of which depend on the type of ore, (disseminated in what? Or is it occurring as native metal as found at White Pine in Michigan). Further do we consider the material removed in gaining access to the ore? There is an answer that we applied in excavating the OmniMax theater under the Arch in St Louis, but the use of large blocks of rock in construction is limited (just see how much waste lies around granite quarries). If we leave most of the material underground to provide support is it still counted as waste? (But we still have to take some out to account for the bulking factor.) Lots of challenges, but this could be exciting.
Thank you @DaveSummers, great to have you here! There's a lot of exciting potential here as we set the prize design and move towards launch of a competition.
Hellow everyone, greatings from Chile. I am Fernando Reyes a civil engineering who worked in the mining industry for about 40 years. I am founder of EzMining a chilean company owner of an innovative technology which answers the challenge of non waste mining
For me any optimization of the existing mining unit operation helps the industry but does not resolve the waste issues. It is necessary to have a disruptive vision for the future mining and I believe it comes from "in situ" mining for leacheable minerals.
Comments
I am interested in discussion and collaboration in this field!
My short biography is here: https://www.oulu.fi/university/researcher/mirja-illikainen
Regarding my background, I am Engineer (UC) and Master in Public Policy (Columbia University). Currently I am Founder/Managing Partner of Inventures, which is a company that supports organizations to develop their digital transformation projects. I am also lecturer of Innovation in Universidad de los Andes of Chile.
It is an honor to be part of this community!
I must confess that were I about 20-years younger I would likely be trying to put a team together to compete, since we were able to demonstrate (often in field applications) several ideas that could help solve the problem. The answers will vary with the answers to some questions, some of which depend on the type of ore, (disseminated in what? Or is it occurring as native metal as found at White Pine in Michigan). Further do we consider the material removed in gaining access to the ore? There is an answer that we applied in excavating the OmniMax theater under the Arch in St Louis, but the use of large blocks of rock in construction is limited (just see how much waste lies around granite quarries). If we leave most of the material underground to provide support is it still counted as waste? (But we still have to take some out to account for the bulking factor.) Lots of challenges, but this could be exciting.
For me any optimization of the existing mining unit operation helps the industry but does not resolve the waste issues. It is necessary to have a disruptive vision for the future mining and I believe it comes from "in situ" mining for leacheable minerals.