TELLURIDE, Colo. (November 30, 2020) – Telluride Venture Accelerator, Mountain Studies Institute, and Newmont Corporation are teaming up to launch the first ever bootcamp for startups addressing mining, clean water, and reclamation issues.
Mining, which in the past was the primary industry in southwest Colorado, has left modern day residents struggling with land, water, and soil pollution. Four headwater rivers of the Colorado River, which all begin in southwest Colorado, have been degraded by mining, but they now offer a living laboratory for businesses applying and scaling emerging business solutions and technologies to address mining water pollution and soil impacts.
These headwater rivers affect seven US states downriver and Mexico. For example, in 2015 the Gold King Mine spill released 3 million gallons of polluted water, turning the Animas River into a toxic technicolor orange line for over 350 miles and affecting 7.8 million water users. What is less known is that similar mines adjacent to Gold King are releasing 1M gallons every day of every year. Colorado has 270 draining mines similar to the Gold King. An estimated 110,000 miles of US streams are impaired because of abandoned mines, including 40% of western headwater streams. The Gold King Mine spill was a wakeup call in the southwest region, emphasizing the importance and urgency of encouraging businesses and industry working in the fields of remediation and water pollution.
The Mining Solutions Bootcamp sessions will offer high-impact mentoring, strategic coaching, and networking with industry experts and investors. The bootcamp focuses specifically on startups operating in the intersection of water quality, reclamation, and mining industries and is open to companies addressing all parts of reclamation, water treatment, monitoring, remote sensing and communication, as well as economic cost recovery through secondary products, recovery of metals, and/or repurpose of byproducts.
The following companies have been selected to participate:
2S Water – delivering a sensor to detect 80 metals in water in real time. Edmonton, Canada www.2swater.com
Disa – developing a machine process using water to achieve selective liberation of gold, nickel, iron, uranium and more with less energy and less waste. Casper, WY www.disausa.com
Lynx – providing a visualization for mining organizations to assess and manage risk with data from sites, maps, sensors, security alerts, permitting, and more. Denver, CO www.lynxglobalintelligence.com
Forgeworks – solving acid mine drainage issues by passively filtering arsenic and heavy metals with an absorptive clay product to harvest valuable rare earth minerals and clean our water systems. Denver, CO and Honolulu, HI
AVIVID – advancing water purification using patented electrocoagulation process to treat waters contaminated with emulsified oils, heavy metals, arsenic, suspended solids, and microorganisms without sludge buildup. Longmont, CO www.avividwater.com
FalconX – building plasma-based mobile water treatment plants that clean water efficiently using a NASA-tested process with recycled water. Calgary, Canada www.falcontechnology.ca
True Pigments – Processing acid mine waste from coal mines into iron oxide pigment, a valuable color agent for paints, glazes, bricks and other materials. The Plains, OH www.truepigments.com
The bootcamp schedule consists of content sessions in the morning, informal lunch and learns, and networking meetings in the afternoon. The workshops and mentor sessions are only available to the selected businesses, but there will be an open Mining Solutions Mixer on Wednesday, December 9th from 5:30-6pm. This virtual event is an opportunity for the public to network with industry experts, mentors, businesses, and investors. Advance registration for the Mixer is required. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mining-solutions-networking-event-tickets-130358536893
TVA is an initiative of the Telluride Foundation and supported by individual donors, the Kauffman Foundation, the Telluray Foundation, and corporate sponsors. For more information on TVA, visit www.tellurideva.com.
The Telluride Foundation exists to create a stronger Telluride and regional community through the promotion and support of philanthropy. 2020 marks 20 years of making more possible through the Telluride Foundation’s commitment to enrich the quality of life of the residents, visitors, and workforce of the Telluride region. The Telluride Foundation is a nonprofit, apolitical community foundation that makes grants to nonprofits, owns and operates programs that meet emerging and unmet community needs, and makes investments. The Foundation approaches this work through the lens of its core values of inclusion, self-reliance, and innovation. Its work is funded through the generous support of individual donors as well as grants from state and national foundations. The Foundation hopes the community will join it in celebrating its 20th anniversary as it honors the nonprofits, donors, and community members who have all partnered together to achieve a significant positive impact on the region. For more information click on www.telluridefoundation.org.
###
