Demonstrating Innovations Program

Invested to Date – $1,408,913

IMII’s Demonstrating Innovations Program supports technology development, demonstration, and deployment. It is designed to help make innovative solutions available to the minerals industry on a pre-commercial basis.

Projects should have a term of less than two years and are eligible for up to $1.25 million in funding over two phases to advance the technology down the path to becoming commercially available to the minerals industry.

The objective is to see a solution developed, demonstrated and available for use by the minerals industry. The technology may demonstrate improvements for operations or solve an advanced issue with practical application for the minerals industry.

Innovations in this program are ideally undertaken by organizations with a mandate for innovative technology development, or by supply chain partners who share IMII’s commitment to innovation. The program allows for piloting or demonstrating new products with IMII and its minerals company members as strategic partners.

The Program looks at two key areas:

• New product research and development, leading edge design, engineering, and prototype development, and/or advanced product testing and refinement
• Technology optimization critical for market acceptance, manufacturing of a prototype for demonstration testing of a prototype in an operational environment, and/or results assessment/verification of technical data

Key elements to a project could include:

• Prototype ready for demonstration at a pilot scale or in an appropriate operational environment
• Technology qualified through tests and demonstration
• Successful deployment in an industry setting
• Innovation utilized in operational conditions

Projects are supported by IMII member’s industry experts and the IMII team.  Results industry is looking for include:

• Technical feasibility has been demonstrated
• Prototype met technical performance criteria
• Scale up is feasible
• Technology is superior in the market
• Technology production/commercialization partner identified

Areas of interest are:

• Analytics solutions
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Digitization and automation
• ESG – environmental, social, and governance
• Extraction and processing
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Modernizing core technologies
• Rock mass and geology technologies
• Sustainability
• Tailings management
• Workplace health and safety systems