JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Cementation Canada, a member of the Murray & Roberts group, has emerged as the co-winner of the $1-million dollar grand prize in the yearly #DisruptMining competition.
Selected as one of five finalists from 153 submissions, the firm, which was also the winner of the prestigious People’s Choice Award as the audience favourite, collected overall final winnings of $650 000 after pitching its Injection Hoisting technology in a “shark-tank” format to a panel for review.
“Using a combination of existing and proven crushing, pumping and slurry technologies, Cementation has developed a proof of concept model for process injection hoisting that would eliminate the need for mine shaft production hoisting or trucking, by transporting ore to the surface using a pump-driven pipeline loop,” the company explained in a statement on Thursday.
During the showcase, Cementation’s request for a site to install and develop a full-scale prototype had attracted interest from at least three mining companies, said Cementation president Roy Slack.
The global #DisruptMining competition, sponsored by Integra Gold and Goldcorp, also saw Kore Geosystems secure a $500 000 prize for its concept of installing instruments onto a drill rig to provide real-time geological data to help better identify potential deposits.
The judges included former founder of Goldcorp Rob McEwen and ABC Television Network’s Shark Tank judge Robert Herjavec, with the competition designed to showcase individuals, groups and companies that are using exponential technology and disruptive concepts to tackle the vast challenges faced by the mining industry.
The #DisruptMining competition staged its gala award evening when it kicked off this year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference, in Toronto.