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A new annual event calling for innovative research proposals to address the mining industry’s toughest sustainable development challenges is coming to South Africa’s Mining Indaba conference agenda this year.
On May 9 & 11, the Innovation & Research Battlefield, an event convened by Investing in African Mining Indaba, Business for Development and the Development Partner Institute, will be a high-profile platform showcasing early-stage innovations focused on this year’s challenge: Building Sustainable Post-Mining Economies.
The event organisers aim to attract a pool of global applicants by connecting academics, researchers, the private sector, NGOs, and young people with a vested interest in sustainable mining to decision-makers in the sector.
“We want the Innovation & Research Battlefield to be a catalyst for closer, more agile collaboration between the private sector, academia and the mining sector to solve critical issues facing the industry, and to bridge the gap between proposed solutions and the funding needed for their implementation,” DPI mining executive director Wendy Tyrrell said in a media statement.
Ten participants, shortlisted through pre-defined evaluation criteria, will have the opportunity to pitch their research proposals to judges and attendees at Mining Indaba, Africa’s most important mining industry conference. The pitch can be done virtually or in person. BHP and The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute are the sponsors of the $28,600 prize.
“It is essential we develop and test innovative solutions to the sector’s tough sustainability and development challenges against a backdrop of climate change, automation, reduced global mobility, a growing ESG agenda and rising stakeholder expectations,” said Business for Development CEO Karen James.
The event is hosted by Sheila Khama, former CEO of De Beers Botswana and natural resources policy advisor at the World Bank and African Development Bank. The judging panel includes a representative from BHP, the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute, Business for Development, and the Development Partner Institute (DPI Mining).
Applications are open until April 6 2022. Successful first-round applicants will be invited to pitch on April 15. Applicants need to be affiliated with an organisation.
More information on how to apply is here.
