Today, the Mining Hub, in partnership with Vale, launches the M-Spot Ciclo 2, a customized open innovation program to solve 16 mining challenges in six different areas: value chain, energy, geotechnics, health and security, asset management – mine and asset management – plant.

In its first version, more than R $ 2 million reais were made available to startups and technology-based companies selected for the implementation of proofs of concept, which are underway in Vale’s internal areas. For the second edition of the program, the value may be even higher.

The success of the first edition generated high expectations for the second cycle of M-Spot, as stated by Júlio Barbosa, Vale’s representative at the Mining Hub. “In Cycle 1 we had approximately 200 registrations from different countries and Brazilian states. The reach that the program has had and the notoriety make us believe that this is a successful journey, in which both sides win and learn together: companies and the innovation ecosystem ”, he points out.

Mining Hub expectations are also high. “We are excited for this new round of challenges in search of innovations,” said Claudia Diniz, executive director of the Mining Hub.

The M-Spot program is organized by Aceleradora Corporativa Neo Ventures, which has more than 12 years of experience with projects in the area of innovation and is already successfully executing other innovation programs with several steps online. Due to the pandemic, the second cycle will also be carried out through virtual meetings and meetups.

The program allows startups to get closer to a large company – including one of the most valuable in Latin America – and to be able to prosper even more.

Registration started this Thursday and runs until March 7. To register and learn more about the program and the challenges, just access the link: https://www.mininghub.com.br/programas/mspot/

Meet the challenges of the M-Spot Ciclo 2 edition program: Vale

Value Chain:
Elimination of contamination in iron ore
Forecast of the moisture limit for ore transport with data prior to the port
Guarantee of low quality variability in the ore multi-legend process
Iron ore moisture reduction during rail transport

Energy:
Sustainable disposal of industrial equipment batteries
Indication of operating mode optimized for energy efficiency in real time

Health security:
Secure access to mobile mining equipment
Noise reduction in ore treatment plants
Mitigation of risks of running over people in field maintenance of trains

Asset Management – Mine:
Scaling and productivity of staff aligned with the best strategy
Real-time maintenance control

Asset Management – Plant:
Conveyor belt wear monitoring
Preventive detection of non-crushable material during ore transport

Geotechnics:
Training people to make decisions in times of geotechnical emergency
Deviation identification and predictive analysis of geotechnical readings
Integrated data management and control for filtered waste piles

Program features

Once selected, startups will go through each of the phases below:

Immersion: Detailed step of the proposals of each startup pre-selected in the previous step. The result of this work will be the input for selecting a startup that presents the best solution for the Implementation of the Proof of Concept (POC). Candidates will have direct access to mining company Vale and the program’s management team to understand the challenge, build and validate a proposal. Startups that participate in the bootcamp will have their supplier registration done at Vale for future opportunities.

Implementation: Period of five months, during which the startup will implement the POC at Vale, according to the work proposal defined in the Bootcamp.

Demoday: Event that celebrates the end of the program cycle, in which startups present the results of the POCs.