CHALLENGES
FIRST OPEN INNOVATION CALL
CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES INSTITUTE
2025
General Objective
To drive the development, piloting, validation, and scaling of technological solutions aimed at the Specific Industrial Innovation Challenges prioritized by ITL, particularly in the areas of low-footprint mining and energy transition.
Aimed at
Organizations and legal entities that present an innovative project, whether national or international.
Application start date:
November 19, 2025, 09:00 hrs
Application deadline
January 9, 2026, 23:59 hrs
Nota Aclaratoria a las Bases del Llamado de
Challenges
01 / Mass Movement of Minerals on Surface
Challenge Description
Surface material transport represents one of the highest logistical costs and sources of energy consumption and emissions in mining. Current hauling systems, mainly based on large-tonnage trucks, face limitations in efficiency, safety, and sustainability. This challenge seeks to promote technological solutions that transform surface material movement, reducing costs, energy consumption, and emissions, and enabling cleaner, safer, and more competitive alternatives for mining.
General Objective
Contribute to the transformation of surface material transport through the scaling and validation of new technologies that reduce logistical costs, energy consumption, and emissions, strengthening the sustainability and competitiveness of mining.
02 / Mass Movement of Minerals in Open Pits and Underground Mining
Challenge Description
Material movement in complex environments such as deep open pits and underground mining presents technical, logistical, and environmental challenges that limit operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability. Current technologies face constraints due to steep slopes, confined spaces, limited ventilation, and demanding geomechanical conditions. This challenge seeks to promote the development and validation of adaptive technologies for material transport in these environments, prioritizing solutions that enhance operational safety, energy efficiency, and integration with ventilation, sorting, and mining automation systems.
General Objective
Contribute to the piloting and validation of adaptive technological solutions for material movement in open pits and underground mining, improving safety, energy efficiency, and operational integration in complex environments.
03 / Mineral Selectivity in Transport Processes
Challenge Description
During material transport in mining operations, large volumes of gangue are moved along with valuable ore, causing overload in crushing, grinding, and leaching processes, which increases energy consumption, water usage, and operational costs. This challenge seeks to develop technological solutions that enable real-time discrimination between valuable ore and gangue during transport, reducing unnecessary processing volumes and optimizing metallurgical efficiency from the source. Priority will be given to automated classification technologies, smart sensors, and decision-making systems that can be integrated into mining operations without disrupting continuity.
General Objective
Contribute to the optimization of metallurgical processes through the development and validation of technologies that enable material selectivity during transport, reducing gangue processing and improving efficiency from the source.
04 / Tailings Production with Lower Water Content and Improved Deposition.
Challenge Description
Tailings management is one of the main environmental and operational challenges in mining. Conventional tailings contain high levels of water, which complicates safe deposition, increases geotechnical risks, and limits water recovery for recirculation. This challenge seeks to promote solutions that enable the generation of tailings with lower water content, facilitating safe, stable, and environmentally responsible deposition. Technologies for filtration, chemical stabilization, and regulatory strategies that enable new tailings management practices will be valued, aiming to reduce risks and improve water efficiency in the process.
General Objective
Contribute to the development of technologies and strategies that enable the generation of tailings with lower water content and improved deposition, enhancing operational safety, water efficiency, and environmental sustainability.
05 / Optimization of Flotation and Leaching to Reduce Waste and Inputs.
Challenge Description
Flotation and leaching processes are fundamental for mineral recovery, but they also represent significant sources of waste generation and consumption of water, energy, and reagents. Limited efficiency in these processes directly impacts the sustainability and competitiveness of mining operations. This challenge seeks to promote technologies that improve metallurgical efficiency while reducing waste generation and the use of critical inputs. Priority will be given to solutions that integrate real-time control, selective reagents, and more sustainable process designs, enabling cleaner, more efficient, and resilient mining.
General Objective
Contribute to the sustainability of metallurgical processes through the development and validation of technologies that optimize flotation and leaching, reducing waste and critical inputs such as water, energy, and reagents.
06 / Total Recovery of Minerals in Metallurgical Processes
Challenge Description
In Chilean large-scale copper mining, flotation and leaching processes still present losses of valuable minerals that end up in tailings or residual solutions, affecting metallurgical efficiency, profitability, and process sustainability. This challenge seeks to promote technologies that increase the total recovery of valuable minerals before tailings deposition, minimizing losses and optimizing the utilization of treated ore. Solutions that integrate advanced separation, intelligent monitoring, and online metallurgical control will be prioritized, enabling a more efficient, cleaner, and competitive operation.
General Objective
Contribute to increasing metallurgical recovery in large-scale copper mining through the development and validation of technologies that reduce losses in tailings and residual solutions, optimizing ore utilization before final disposal.
07 / Integrated Management of Particulate Matter Emissions in Mining
Challenge Description
Mining operations and tailings generate significant particulate matter emissions due to activities such as comminution, transport, loading, material transfer, and wind erosion. In critical events, these emissions exceed international guideline values, affecting the health of workers, nearby communities, and ecosystems. The challenge seeks to develop and implement an integrated emissions management platform that combines real-time monitoring, source traceability, forecasting, emission composition analysis, and intelligent control. The solution must be integrable with abatement and agglomeration systems, as well as with environmental and mining operation management platforms, contributing to cleaner and safer mining.
General Objective
Contribute to the sustainable reduction of fine particulate matter emissions in mining through the development and validation of an integrated platform for monitoring, traceability, and intelligent control, enabling improvements in occupational health, community relations, and environmental protection.
08 / In Situ Copper Leaching
Challenge Description
In situ leaching (ISL) represents a disruptive alternative for copper extraction, with the potential to significantly reduce water and energy consumption as well as waste generation. In Chile, its application has not yet been validated under real mining conditions. This challenge seeks to develop and validate a comprehensive ISL model that combines technological efficiency, economic viability, and environmental sustainability. Work will focus on implementing demonstrative pilots in real environments, advanced geohydrological characterization, flow modeling, design of selective reagents, intelligent monitoring systems, and environmental closure protocols. The model will be adaptable to different types of deposits such as oxidized copper, secondary sulfides, and primary sulfides.
General Objective
Co-develop and validate in Chile a comprehensive in situ leaching (ISL) model for copper that enables its safe, efficient, and sustainable application across different types of deposits, contributing to the technological transformation of national mining.
09 / Efficient Leaching of Primary Sulfide
Challenge Description
Copper mining faces a growing dependence on primary sulfides, mainly chalcopyrite, which represents 70% of global reserves and is the most abundant sulfide mineral in Chile. However, its low reactivity under environmental conditions limits the efficiency of leaching processes, resulting in low metallurgical recoveries, long residence times, and intensive use of energy and reagents. The challenge seeks to close this technological gap through the maturation and validation of solutions at a technology readiness level (TRL) equal to or greater than 4, advancing toward semi-industrial and operational scale testing to demonstrate higher recovery, lower energy consumption, and more sustainable processes.
General Objective
Contribute to the development of sustainable metallurgical processes through the maturation of technologies that enable efficient leaching of primary sulfides, increasing copper recovery and reducing energy and reagent consumption.
10 / Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in Energy-Intensive Mining Processes
Challenge Description
Energy-intensive mining processes—such as comminution, material transport, and thermal drying—are significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Chilean mining. This challenge aims to promote technological solutions that reduce GHG emissions in these processes, contributing to the sector’s carbon neutrality goals. Technologies integrating process electrification, energy efficiency, green fuels, and emissions traceability will be prioritized, enabling cleaner, more efficient, and verifiable mining operations.
General Objective
Co-develop and validate technological solutions that reduce GHG emissions in energy-intensive mining processes through the integration of electrification, energy efficiency, green fuels, and environmental traceability systems.
11 / Energy Operating System for Mining: Integration, Optimization, and Digital Management
Challenge Description
This challenge seeks to develop and validate an integrated energy operating system for mining operations, enabling digital management, optimization, and traceability of energy flows. The system should incorporate real-time data acquisition, predictive analytics, and control strategies to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions across mining processes.
General Objective
Design and implement a digital energy operating system for mining that enables integrated management, optimization, and traceability of energy use and emissions.
12 / Innovations in Electricity Storage and Charging Systems for Mining Applications
Challenge Description
This challenge seeks to identify, develop, and validate innovative technologies for electricity storage and charging systems tailored to the operational demands of the mining sector. Solutions should address energy density, charging speed, safety, and integration with renewable sources, aiming to improve energy autonomy, reduce emissions, and enhance operational efficiency.
General Objective
Develop and validate advanced electricity storage and charging systems that meet the technical, environmental, and safety requirements of mining operations.
13 / Development of national capabilities and solutions for modeling, testing, validation, certification, and scaling of technologies associated with batteries, hybrid systems, retrofitting, green hydrogen (H2V), and electromobility in mining.
Challenge Description
The decarbonization of mining requires accelerating the adoption of low-emission propulsion and energy supply technologies, including hybrid systems, retrofitting of existing equipment, green hydrogen (H2V), and electromobility. However, there is a national gap in capabilities to model, test, validate, certify, and scale these solutions under the extreme operating conditions of mining (altitude, dust, vibration, temperatures, heavy load cycles, and operational safety).
The challenge seeks to mature technologies (≥ TRL 4) and consolidate national capabilities through the development of modeling methodologies, test benches, validation protocols, and certification pathways, along with scaling pilots in relevant and semi-industrial environments. Priority is given to interoperability, safety (electrical and hydrogen), energy performance, reliability, and techno-economic feasibility to accelerate adoption in mining operations.
General Objective
Develop and validate comprehensive national capabilities and solutions for modeling, testing, validation, certification, and scaling of hybrid systems, retrofitting, H2V, and electromobility technologies applied to mining, reducing adoption time and costs while ensuring performance, safety, and interoperability.
14 / Operation and maintenance of solar power plants.
Challenge Description
The operation and maintenance of solar power plants in northern Chile consistently face challenges related to local weather conditions, such as high temperatures and intense solar radiation, as well as the significant accumulation of dust, which accelerates equipment wear and failure. The slow, manual, and costly process of detecting thousands of faulty modules, coupled with persistent failures in key components like inverters, presents an ongoing challenge. This initiative aims to bridge the technological gap to optimize the quality and duration of solar module inspections, reduce failures in panels and inverters, and lower overall operation and maintenance costs for the plants.
General Objective
To contribute to the reduction of operation and maintenance costs in solar power plants by co-developing new technologies that enable shorter inspection and fault detection times for solar modules and inverters. Concurrently, the aim is to extend the service life of inverters through technological solutions that directly address the root causes of their failures.
15 / Soiling on photovoltaic modules
Challenge Description
Solar power plants in northern Chile, a region with the highest solar radiation on the planet, face a critical operational challenge: the rapid accumulation of dust and dirt (soiling) on photovoltaic modules. This phenomenon severely reduces the transmissivity of the modules, leading to significant energy generation losses. The problem is exacerbated because the conventional cleaning method requires large volumes of water, a particularly scarce resource in this arid region, making this approach unsustainable over time. Consequently, this situation directly impacts both the expected performance and the financial viability of the projects.
General Objective
The overarching objective of this challenge is to develop and implement innovative technological solutions that enable the rapid determination of soiling levels on modules across the solar field and effectively mitigate its accumulation. The aim is to minimize generation losses and optimize the profitability of solar power plants in northern Chile by reducing or eliminating the dependency on water resources for their cleaning.
16 / Decarbonization of industrial plants through the incorporation of clean technologies in thermal processes.
Challenge Description
While high-power electricity generation from renewable sources is rapidly developing in Chile, the integration of these sources into the thermal processes of the main industries in northern Chile is facing difficulties and barriers to consolidation, particularly for those requiring medium and high-temperature heat. This challenge aims to overcome these limitations through the co-development and implementation of clean technologies to decarbonize these critical industrial processes.
General Objective
Remove the barriers hindering the penetration of renewable technologies to accelerate the decarbonization of industrial processes.
17 / Grid stabilization through the retrofit of thermal power plants.
Challenge Description
Coal-fired thermal power plants have an official retirement date of 2035 in Chile. Their retirement leaves behind valuable infrastructure that could be repurposed for electrical energy generation. This approach offers benefits such as lower investment costs, reduced construction time, readily available accessibility, and fewer required permits. Furthermore, it enables the provision of grid stability through the use of the existing turbines, which contribute inertia that enhances the robustness of the electrical system. In this context, the challenge involves identifying low-carbon technological solutions that leverage this existing infrastructure to maintain grid stability by repurposing thermal power plants—not only coal-fired plants but also those using other types of fossil fuels.
General Objective
Evaluate clean energy technologies with storage capabilities that enhance the robustness of the electrical grid through the repurposing of existing thermal power plant infrastructure.
Application start date:
November 19, 2025, 09:00 hrs
Application deadline
January 9, 2026, 23:59 hrs
Questions and Inquiries
Subject: ITL Open Innovation Call