International Minerals Innovation Institute (IMII) has announced the finals of its student competition AI4SafeMines, which challenges “the next generation of innovators” to develop (artificial intelligence) AI-powered mine safety solutions.
Teams from Canada, Chile and Colombia will compete in the global finals, taking place Sept. 24, 2026, at the ISSA Mining Safety Conference in Saskatoon. The winning team will receive a $6,000 (US$4338) scholarship prize.
“AI4SafeMines has been an exciting opportunity to see what is possible when we bring emerging talent, AI and real-world mining challenges together,” said Lesley McGilp, IMII’s executive director.
The competition began earlier this year with 10 teams of 27 student participants. From this event 3 finalist teams were selected to advance to the finals, Team Turtleshell, Team Statera, and Team TS^2. These teams include students from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Holy Cross High School and the University of Saskatchewan.
In addition, two southern hemisphere pre-pitch competitions were held later in the year. One was in Chile while the other was Colombian-led. The winning teams from each of the two events were Team IMSA, from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Team MineAir, from the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander in Colombia.
McGilp says the Colombian and Chilean teams bring “an international perspective to the competition and demonstrate that the challenges around mine safety — and the opportunity to innovate — extend well beyond our borders.”
The teams have all spent months developing their ideas with seed funding, support from industry mentors and pitch coaches, preparing their solutions for the final presentation.
ISSA Mining Safety Conference runs from Sept. 22 to 24.
Comments