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Short DescirptionThis challenge calls for groundbreaking technologies across regions and industries to maximize the recovery of metals and minerals from ores and non-primary sources, reducing the need for fresh extraction to meet future raw material demands.

The focus of the challenge is on commercializing novel technologies from the mining sector and adapted technologies from other industries by enabling capital infusion, engaging a mission-aligned ecosystem, fostering product-market fit, and shifting perceptions about the industry's role in sustainable global decarbonization and the energy transition.

Sample technologies include electrochemical processes – molten salt electrolysis, hydrometallurgy, chromatography, electromagnetic fields-based metal recovery, adsorption & absorption methods, pyrometallurgy, synthetic biology - phyto & bio processes, and electrokinetics.
CriteriaThe focus areas of this challenge include:

- Improving efficiency
- Re-recovering
- Recycling and urban mining
- Repurposing

1) Business performance
- Commercial viability: Description of the financial maturity, market demand, potential business cases and time-to-market strategies for technology industrialization. Ensuring practical feasibility, attractiveness to clients, and long-term cost-effectiveness.
- Fundraising success: Successful fundraising as a marker of the start-up's ability to attract investment across development stages.

2) Innovation and Potential for disruption
- Industry applicability: Clear demonstration of how the innovation will generate measurable impact towards the focus areas of this challenge.
- Technology readiness: Current technology readiness level (TRL), favouring higher TRLs, while acknowledging prototypes for novel solutions with longer development cycles. Assessing the time-to-market timeline of the innovations.

3) Impact
- Clear impact pathways: Clear narrative towards relevant stakeholders with expected measurable environmental and socio-economic impact linked to the innovation proposed.
- Clear impact metrics: For instance, reduction of energy use, reduced footprints of CO2, water, land, and other environmental impact measures.

4) Team
- Team dynamics: Balanced team with visionary leadership and complementary skills across technical, business, and operational areas. Key traits include adaptability, clear vision for the company, resilience in the face of challenges, ethical considerations in technology deployment and ability to raise capital.
- Technical and operational competence: Deep technical expertise in the relevant domain, proven experience in R&D, understanding of the market and customer needs, and the ability to execute projects with efficiency and agility.
RegionsGlobal