VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The #DisruptMining mining innovation challenge has named the four finalists who will compete against each other during the grand finale to be held during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's yearly convention early in March.

The yearly competition, hosted by gold miner Goldcorp, is aimed at unearthing new and disruptive ideas and technologies to address the seemingly mounting challenges in mining. Up for grabs is C$1-million in investment money to develop a proof of concept. More than 100 ideas were submitted for the 2018 competition.

The finalists include:

•  Acoustic Zoom, which uses high-frequency three-dimensional imaging to help map complex geological formations deep within the earth's micro-structure.
• EnviroLeach Technologies, which has developed an ecofriendly alternative to cyanide used in the hydrometallurgical extraction of precious metals.
• LlamaZOO Interactive, which has created MineLife VR, a software platform that enables companies to represent a mine plan from exploration to reclamation in an interactive 1:1 scale making use of virtual reality technologies.
• Open Mineral, which is an online trading platform for mineral commodities, founded and run by former Glencore executives.

A live finale will be held on March 4, with the winner chosen by a panel of judges that includes Softtek president and CEO and Goldcorp director Blanca Treviño, Integra Resources president and CEO George Salamis, McEwen Mining founder, chief owner and CEO Rob McEwen, University of British Columbia mining engineering student and the recipient of the 2017 Engineers Canada Gold Medal Student Award Veronica Knott and Chrysalix Venture Capital president and CEO Wal van Lierop.

Net proceeds from the #DisruptMining finale event will be invested in innovation-focused scholarships.

During the inaugural competition in 2017, Cementation and Kore Geosystems were named co-winners of the event, with Cementation also named the People's Choice winner at the event for its injection hoisting technology.