Environmentally-friendly waste specialist Sem Energy has scooped a prize of $100,000 (more than £83,200) rewarding its efforts to conserve the Amazon rainforest.
Aberdeen-based Sem put its whisky waste filtration technology to good use as part of international efforts to deliver more sustainable mining in the region.
It took its aptly-named “Dram” product to Madre de Dios, Peru, to help a local gold miner clean up waste produced through the extraction process.
The innovative project impressed judges in a global innovation competition, the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon.
SEM’s success – it was one of four winners sharing a £300,000 prize pot – was announced at the Innovation XChange, the challenge’s closing event in a hotel in Lima, Peru.
More than 350 people gathered at the venue and many more joined in online to celebrate the achievements of participants.
Field trials in Madre de Dios – part of an accelerator programe led by environmental organisation Conservation X Labs – are said to have produced “outstanding results”.
Cassava donations to local orphanages
SEM’s team adapted Dram to the remote jungle environment.
They used cassava peels as an organic filter and donated the flesh of the root vegetables to local orphanages.
SEM lead scientist Leigh Cassidy, who led the project, said: “The prize fund will be fundamental to the further development of Dram and enable the system to be rolled out across the wider market.
“Seeing the effects of the impact of small-scale mining, and the lack of regulation protecting communities in South America, really highlighted the need for a more sustainable approach to the traditional mining process.
“Both owners and workers of mines are concerned about the environmental effects of mining.
“But the short-term focus is concerned with making a living, which at the moment takes priority over sustainable action.”
Seeing the effects of the impact of small-scale mining, and the lack of regulation protecting communities in South America, really highlighted the need for a more sustainable approach to the traditional mining process.”
Leigh Cassidy, lead scientist, Sem.
Ms Cassidy added: “It is fortunate that Dram can provide a solution to both of these aspects, providing artisanal miners with an additional revenue stream through the forward sale of recovered metals, whilst protecting the environment.
“Dram has the potential to create a whole new industry associated with the AGSM (artisanal and small-scale gold mining) sector.
Legacy ambition
“We visualise the system being operated by local residents as a franchise, helping to leave behind a legacy where miners can continue to use the technology themselves for years to come.”
Just 12 projects were chosen from more than 120 international applications for the challenge, which was backed by software giant Microsoft and the US Agency for International Development, among others.
Small-scale operations account for around one-fifth of newly mined gold production in the Amazon and is an important industry for many rural communities.
But it is also associated with hazardous working conditions and environmental concerns.
And while the Madre de Dios mining site is primarily focused on gold, additional metals extracted – including silver, copper, lead and mercury – can harm aquatic life and even humans if it enters the food chain via water.
Big hopes for Scottish Dram
The widespread adoption of Dram is expected to play a significant part in the regeneration of areas impacted by AGSM, helping to prevent the environmental spread of contaminants and mitigating further damage to the Amazon’s biodiverse ecosystem.
Sem was founded in 2016 by chief executive John Jones and chief operating officer Grant Leslie.
It developed its groundbreaking filtration technology in partnership with Edinburgh University and the Glasgow-based Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre.
Conversation