Conservation X Labs (CXL) has officially published a report on the outcomes and lessons learned from its Artisanal Mining Grand Challenges conducted between 2019 and 2022.
According to certain reports, these Challenges, on their part, would go on to award more than $1.75 million in prizes and funding to innovators, who have been working towards addressing the environmental and social impacts of artisanal mining globally, as well as of artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Amazon.
To understand the significance of such a development, we must take into account how March 2025 saw gold prices reach new all-time highs, nearing $3,000 per ounce and increasing incentives for gold mining. Contextualizing this piece of information further is the fact that ASGM sector is currently responsible for producing nearly a quarter of the world’s gold supply, while simultaneously contributing to mercury pollution, deforestation, and ecosystem degradation.
This is especially the case in biodiversity hotspots across the Amazon, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
For the advancement of that very ecosystem, CXL ran the Challenges with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Andes Amazon Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Microsoft, Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA), and a consortium of 22 partner organizations.
“We’ve learned that transforming the artisanal gold mining sector requires innovative technologies in combination with strong local partnerships and enabling conditions,” said Daphne Yin, Director of Impact at CXL and lead author of the report. “The solutions supported through these Challenges demonstrate significant potential. Their ultimate success depends on continued collaboration across sectors and sustained investment to create pathways to scale.”
Talk about the published results on a slightly deeper level, they would go on to show accelerated development of ASGM solutions, something achieved on back of innovations across four categories i.e. actionable and monitoring data, cleaner mining tools, remediation and restoration, and supply chain tools. You see, within the given stratosphere, 94% of players managed to successfully increase their technology readiness levels through field-testing, mentorship, and training.
Next up, the report revealed enhanced global awareness, along with a whole new generation of solvers. In essence, CXL’s challenges attracted applicants from 39 countries, with finalists from 10 countries. In total, eighteen finalist teams were selected to test and refine their solutions in real-world mining environments across Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, and Peru.
For better understanding, 56% of these finalist teams had never even applied for USAID funding before, opening up new possibilities for procurement and localization. Anyway, making the whole proposition even better is a fact that CXL’s Challenges and supported innovations have, up until now, earned at least 210 press mentions across media outlets to date.
Then, there is the topic of financial leverage, considering the relevant innovators have raised over $7.1 million in follow-on funding. Not just that, every Challenge dollar has also gone on to catalyze $1.93 in added investment.
Furthermore, exposure through the Challenges would help donors big time in terms of identifying new solutions to support through grantmaking, as well as position innovators to apply for funding from donors and investors.
Among other things, we ought to mention how CXL and partners propose a network of place-based Innovation Hubs to address significant barriers that remain firmly in place for technological solutions supporting responsible ASGM. These challenges include fragmented funding landscapes, weak formalization, regulatory gaps, and lack of dedicated revenue streams for solutions in the sector.
Beyond that, the stated hubs will also facilitate partnerships between communities, governments, research institutions, and the private sector to create integrated solutions spanning the supply chain.
“Place-based innovation hubs can bridge the gap between scientific breakthroughs and real-world implementation by providing sustained support for cleaner mining technologies, traceability systems, and restoration efforts,” said Luis Fernandez of Wake Forest University’s Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability and CINCIA. “By embedding these hubs within ASGM-affected regions, we can ensure solutions are tested, adapted, and deployed where they are needed most. These hubs will foster collaboration among scientists, technologists, policymakers, and miners—accelerating the adoption of solutions that prevent deforestation and land degradation while promoting more sustainable economic alternatives.”
