Deadline: 2020-03-01 Award: $750,000 Open to: Everyone*
Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a critical source of livelihood for an estimated 40+ million people worldwide. While ASM generates wealth in developing countries, ASM practices can cause habitat loss, species’ population decline, poor water quality, hydrological changes, and negative human health & livelihood impacts. Mining is among the most significant drivers of deforestation in the world’s tropical forests, a leading cause of global biodiversity loss.
We're looking for breakthroughs to improve the current practices of ASM.
Challenge Components:
Prevent, Remediate, Restore - This Sub-Challenge seeks breakthrough innovations that are implemented at ASM sites to prevent, remediate, or restore impacts from ASM on water, hydrology, land, biodiversity, human health, and/or ecosystems.
Reform Supply Chains - This Sub-Challenge seeks innovations that significantly reduce the social and environmental costs of commodities sourced through ASM, downstream from the ASM sites.
Global Data - This Sub-Challenge seeks solutions that measure the environmental and social impacts of ASM and equip people with tools to improve the environmental and social outcomes of ASM practices.
The $100,000 Microsoft Artisanal Mining AI For Earth Award - As part of the Grand Challenge, Microsoft’s AI for Earth initiative is awarding $100,000 for solutions that utilize or deploy artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning, to address ASM in any of the Sub-Challenge categories.