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Inrush of Material

Applications are now closed.

Challenge 1 - Excessive Water / Run of Material in Underground Mines

Excessive Water / Inrush of Material in Underground Mines

Uncontrolled water in an underground mining environment can be a significant hazard. In an underground mine, managing water is a critical activity to ensure the safety of workers and on-going/effective mining activities. In partnership with Vale, NORCAT is seeking a potential technology solution for the mining industries current challenge of Inrush of Material.

Deadline

Applications are closed.

Award

Fully funded PoC development & on-site testing / validation, and potential procurement if successful.

Challenge Description

In partnership with Vale, NORCAT is seeking a potential technology solution for the mining industries current challenge of Inrush of Material. The ideal solution would look to both identify and mitigate the conditions leading to the risk of the inrush of material. If this "ideal state" can not be achieved, then we would give priority to solutions that either reduce the likelihood of a safety incident occurring and/or reduces the impact should such an event occur.

Who should participate?

  • In the ideation/research phase, a start-up, or a small to medium business.
  • Based anywhere in the world, but need to be available to demonstrate and deploy your proof-of-concept solution in one of Vale’s operations located in the City of Greater Sudbury.
  • Able to commit approximately 12 hours a week from April 19th, 2021 to August 20th, 2021 to work with Vale technical experts on developing, preparing and testing your proof-of-concept solution.
  • Willing, able and excited by the potential of Vale issuing a purchase order deploy the solution broadly across their operations.

Opportunity

The company chosen for the test and Proof-of-Concept phase will be given a full budget to work and execute their trials as agreed upon by both parties. All start-ups will retain Intellectual Property Rights to anything created during this process. If successful, start-ups will have the opportunity to land a procurement deal with Vale and other Major Mining Companies.

Latest Updates

The challenge is now closed. NORCAT and Vale would like to thank everyone who applied.
Winners:
- MineVest Resources
- Podco Designs

Overview

Context

Uncontrolled water in an underground mining environment can be a significant hazard. In an underground mine, managing water is a critical activity to ensure the safety of workers and on-going/effective mining activities. Water is often naturally occurring within the mining environment and it is also deliberately introduced as part of the mining process for dust control and to assist with drilling. To better outline some of the key challenges related to water and water management, we have detailed some specific areas of concern where we believe there are opportunities to utilize technology solutions to mitigate them.

Problem Definition

Post a blast; a mining operator will utilize a Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) machine to scoop up the blasted material. This material will consist of rock fragments of varying sizes and will also include some degree of water/moisture. The operator will transport this material to a dump location (an ore pass) whereby it will be dumped and then cascaded down to a lower level of the mine via gravity and ultimately accumulate in the bottom of the ore pass as the process continues. At regular intervals, this material will be collected from the bottom of the ore pass via a chute and be transported to a skip/bin that brings the material to the surface.

Serious issues arise when there is a "clog/jam" in the ore pass. The clogs are formed when larger material fragments create a bridge or a "constipation jam." This enables the material to accumulate above the jam, which may consist of water and smaller sand-like fragments of rocks. Over time, the increasing water/moisture accumulation combined with small material fragments creates a slurry – ultimately liquefying the aggregate material above the jam. This jam can give way due to the increasing weight of accumulated material, or it can be removed via an intervention with an operator. In either scenario, when the jam breaks, it could result in a run of material (see Figure 1), creating a catastrophic situation for the operator(s) at the bottom of the ore pass/chute that is removing and ultimately transporting the material.

One of the contributing challenges to excessive water accumulation relates to failures in drainage systems, which are designed to remove and transport water away from the active mining heading. As the LHD operator scoops a bucket of blast rock/material, there are instances, that due to clogged drainage/dewatering systems or failed pumping mechanisms underground (among other reasons), that the LHD operator will scoop up a significant amount of water along with the blasted rock. This contributes to a disproportionate amount of water in the bucket and further leads to creating the conditions where a run of material could occur in the ore pass/chute.

Proactively identifying when drains are clogging, measuring and/or removing moisture content in the bucket of the LHD or in the ore pass, identifying when excessive water is accumulating in a drift and understanding the composition of the rock sizes accumulating in the ore pass, among other insights, are potential suggestions on how to address this challenge. That said, we are open and hoping for creative ideas and solutions.

Structure

Solution Development

As part of this open innovation call, Vale is seeking potential solutions that can be identified, developed and deployed as a Proof-of-Concept within a four (4) month time frame within its Sudbury operations. We are open to new ideas, concepts and technologies that will help our operations address this issue to ensure the on-going safety of our workforce.

Given the run of material is an issue shared amongst mining companies around the world, there is a desire to share the validated solutions with our broader network, including our peers, suppliers and customers.

The ideal solution would look to both identify and mitigate the conditions leading to the risk of the run of material. If this "ideal state" can not be achieved, then we would give priority to solutions that either reduce the likelihood of a safety incident occurring and/or reduces the impact should such an event occur.

Selected companies that are selected to participate in the Proof-of-Concept Boot Camp will be provided a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect and validate your ownership of your intellectual property.

Judging and Awards

Selected ventures will be invited to participate in a web-meeting with Vale and NORCAT representatives to better understand the proposed solution and address any questions related to the requirements of the Proof-of-Concept Boot Camp.

  • In the ideation/research phase, a start-up, or a small to medium business.
  • Based anywhere in the world, but need to be available to demonstrate and deploy your proof-of-concept solution in one of Vale’s operations located in the City of Greater Sudbury.
  • Able to commit approximately 12 hours a week from April 19th, 2021 to August 20th, 2021 to work with Vale technical experts on developing, preparing and testing your proof-of-concept solution.
  • Willing, able and excited by the potential of Vale issuing a purchase order deploy the solution broadly across their operations.

Timeline

  • Challenge Launch

    Sept 21, 2020

    Applications for the NORCAT Open Innovation Challenge open September 21st, 2020. Ventures that believe they have a potential technology solution to one of the three challenges can apply below by completing the application form.

  • Application Deadline

    October 16, 2020

    Applications must be submitted by October 16th, 2020. No late applications will be accepted. If you have any questions about your application, please reach out to openinnovation@norcat.org.

  • Successful Ventures Chosen

    December 11, 2020

    Selected ventures will be invited to participate in a web-meeting with Vale and NORCAT representatives to better understand the proposed solution and address any questions related to the requirements of the Proof-of-Concept Boot Camp.

  • Proof-of-Concept Boot Camp

    April 19, 2021

    Successful companies will connect with Vale technical experts, field resources and NORCAT Mentors to support the development of your Proof-of-Concept solution.

  • In-the-field Product Testing

    August 23, 2021

    Once a successful Proof-of-Concept product is developed, ventures will commence in-the-field product testing within one of Vale’s Greater Sudbury operations to validate the effectiveness of the technology solution.

  • Potential Procurement & Rollout

    September, 2021

    The purpose of the NORCAT Open Innovation Challenge aims to connect and broker a professional relationship between you, your venture and Vale that could lead to potential procurement opportunities within Vale and other mining companies.

Resources

Challenge 1 - Excessive Water / Run of Material in Underground Mines

Figure 1 - A Scooptram being buried under a run of material.

FAQ

No. At the time of application, ventures are not required to be a registered business. However, if you are fortunate enough to be enrolled in the Proot-of-Concept Boot Camp, we would encourage you to think about formalizing your legal structure.
Yes. If your venture has a diverse set of proposed technology solutions to address one (or more) of the challenges, feel free to submit them.
Yes. However, given these challenges are quite different, we don’t anticipate this being practical.
No. It is not possible to make changes to any submitted application form.
No. However, we would encourage you to balance clarity and brevity with ensuring you provide enough insight that our review committee can understand your venture and the application of your proposed solution.
Ventures can be at the ideation/research stage, a start-up, or a small to medium business. Companies with revenues >$50M are not eligible to apply to the Open Innovation Challenge.
The application deadline is October 16th, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. EST. No late applications will be accepted.
Ventures that are selected to participate in the Proof-of-Concept Boot Camp will be provided with a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect and validate your ownership of your intellectual property. Vale will not have any responsibility over any legal issues surrounding the intellectual property related to third parties.
Submitted applications will be reviewed by NORCAT and Vale technical experts. For qualified ventures, we will be offering a webinar and selection interview to connect you with the Vale in-house subject matter expert(s) that will assist you by providing additional insight and help answer any questions you have.
Yes. Ventures can be based anywhere in the world but must be available to demonstrate and deploy the proof-of-concept solution in one of Vale’s operations in the City of Greater Sudbury. Please consider COVID-19 travel restrictions when applying.
The company chosen for the test and Proof-of-Concept phase will be given a budget to work and execute their trials.
No. There is no cash prize for selected ventures, however, the venture will have access to NORCAT Mentors, Vale technical experts, field resources and a budget to work and execute trials. The value for participating is really based on the potential procurement opportunities within Vale and other mining companies.
Podco Logo

"This is an exciting opportunity for Podco to showcase our experience and agile product development. It’s a very forward-thinking program put together by NORCAT in partnership with Vale. I believe the collaboration between Podco and the Vale Open Innovation Team will lead to the best possible solution."

- Stephen Podrucky, Product Designer and Founder of Podco Inc.