Competition Launched by Coalition of Global Partners
The Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge will support an international cohort of solutions creating an environmentally and socially responsible artisanal & small-scale mining sector.
SAN JOSE, OCTOBER, 02, 2019
Conservation X Labs, in partnership with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Microsoft; World Wildlife Fund; Conservation International; Wildlife Conservation Society; Andes Amazon Fund; Amazon Conservation Association; Levin Sources; Pan American Development Foundation; Water, Environment and Human Development Initiative; Mongabay; the Tech Interactive; and Wake Forest University’s Center for Amazonian Science and Innovation (CINCIA) officially launched the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge in San Jose, CA today. Innovators from anywhere in the world can now submit applications to this international competition.
This international competition aims to promote solutions to supply-chain, data-collection, and environmental problems associated with artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) worldwide. $750,000 will be awarded to innovators with winning solutions, which will also receive support, incubation, commercialization, and assistance scaling these solutions so that they will be adopted around the world. Additionally, Microsoft’s AI for Earth Initiative is awarding $100,000 for solutions that utilize or deploy artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning, in any of the sub-challenge categories.
Former U.S. EPA administrator and current Director of Harvard’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, Gina McCarthy, delivered video remarks calling on innovators to direct their attention toward this sector. “The need for greater global attention on this issue is clear and it’s compelling. Innovation is the key if we hope to improve mining methods and reduce the health impacts felt by millions of people, including young children, as well as the damage that is being done to critical natural resources.”
The Challenge was launched in front of a captivated audience during an exciting event at San Jose’s Tech Interactive, featuring speakers from the global partner coalition, video footage of ASM-caused environmental devastation shown in the Tech’s IMAX theater, and exclusive after-hours access to the Tech Interactive’s exhibits.
“A growing globalized and digital economy brings new challenges for biodiversity conservation and development, and the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge tackles an emergent global challenge head-on by working with, rather than against, market forces,” said Dr. Alex Dehgan, CEO of Conservation X Labs. “The Tech Interactive is the perfect venue to formally launch this Challenge due to its proximity to some of the most innovative technology companies in the world which rely on many of the minerals that are known to be mined in these small-scale operations.”
During the event, Dr. Luis E. Fernandez of Wake Forest University Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA) painted a grim picture of the environmental impacts of ASM in the Amazon but also offered a sense of hope that this Grand Challenge will identify game-changing technologies to curb these negative impacts. “We are excited to see the novel solutions and innovations that will be developed by this Grand Challenge deployed in the field where the needs grow ever more urgent.”
The Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge seeks breakthrough innovations in three sub-challenge categories:
· Innovations implemented at ASM sites to prevent, remediate, or restore impacts from ASM to water, hydrology, land, biodiversity, human health, and/or ecosystems
· Innovations implemented downstream from ASM sites, at any point in the supply chain that significantly reduce the social and environmental costs of commodities sourced by ASM, and
· Information solutions on-site and downstream from ASM sites that measure the environmental and social impacts of ASM and equip people with the tools to improve those impacts.
Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, summarized the Challenge goals succinctly. “Shining a light on these new solutions will help protect ecosystems and biodiversity, build more transparent supply chains, and foster a better life for people who make their livelihoods in the sector.”
“The Moore Foundation has been committed since 2001 to conservation and supporting strategies in the Andes-Amazon region, having worked with governments, civil society and communities living in and around protected areas and indigenous lands to bring almost one-third of the Amazonian forest cover under sustainable management,” said Aileen Lee, Moore Foundation’s Chief Program Officer of Environmental Conservation. “The Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge addresses an underlying driver of environmental change and species extinction that affects all of the countries where we work and remains a major challenge for our partners. We encourage other philanthropies and funders to take similar risks to invest in the innovations we need to deploy for creating a more responsible future for the sector.”
John Robinson, Executive Vice President of Conservation & Science at the Wildlife Conservation Society added, “At WCS, we recognize the value of innovation in this sector. And we hope that the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge will attract new people and ideas to help solve these problems. Through this challenge, we have the opportunity to reimagine how we source the materials we use every day.”
Interested in learning more and applying to the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge? You can find those details on the challenge website: https://www.artisanalminingchallenge.com.
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For more information, please visit www.artisanalminingchallenge.com.
About Artisanal Mining
While defined differently across countries, ASM generally refers to mining operations with predominantly simplified forms of exploration, extraction, processing, and transportation. These operations are often labor intensive, low-tech, receive limited investment, and require less expertise than medium and large-scale mining operations. ASM operations can be formal or informal, legal or illegal.