Goldcorp seeks ideas to disrupt the mining industry

For the second year in a row, mining company Goldcorp is looking to disrupt the mining sector.

The company is holding an event called Disrupt Mining, which is a mining innovation challenge. The prize could be a million dollar investment from Goldcorp.

The competition involves people pitching their new mining industry ideas, much like entrepreneurs do on CBC's television program Dragon's Den.

Luis Canepari, the vice-president for technology with Goldcorp, says they're looking for ideas that could change the mining sector.

"We're looking for that idea that will completely revolutionize the way that we do mining," he said.

"And figure out a way to completely disrupt that part of the business, and to make it so much better than you have today. That's the kind of innovation we're looking for."

More traction

Last year, KORE Geosystems secured a million dollar investment from Goldcorp. It allowed the company to accelerate a "smart-drilling" technology development, and KORE and Goldcorp are launching a pilot program later this year.

Canepari says more companies are interested this year in pitching innovative ideas.

"Well this year I already received an inquiry from a company out of Quebec, which is great," he said.

"We've been receiving inquiries from all over the world, some inquiries from Europe, some inquiries from the U.S. So the event is getting a lot more traction than last year."

The deadline for submissions is Jan 16.

Semi-finalists will present in front of a live audience at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto in March.