# 10 Million Dollar Challenge



## jimdoc (Sep 19, 2007)

Here is something one of you guys may be able to make 10 million;

http://tinyurl.com/2vwgtf


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## aflacglobal (Sep 19, 2007)

Chrisssssss. Do that thing you do with the silver so good. 

I got one for their ass. Not yours chris, but a modification of sorts.

I have got to check this out more.This is where i get my crazy ideas, and funding. :wink: 

Update soon.


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## aflacglobal (Dec 18, 2007)

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 


Dam. :arrow: 
You get that email Steve?

Barrick Gold extends deadline to April 30 for $10 million Unlock the Value program 



Toronto, December 14, 2008 – Scientists will have an additional three months to propose solutions to an earthly conundrum posed by Barrick Gold Corporation. The company is extending the deadline to April 30, 2008, for its Unlock the Value program, which offers scientists US$10 million if they can increase silver recovery from Barrick’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina .

“We’ve had a very positive response so far from the global ( See he said global :shock: ) scientific and technical community,” said Dr. Peter Kondos, Manager of Research and Development. << (Thats THE dude there) “We want to give researchers the time they need to develop, refine and submit their proposals. We want to generate as many submissions as possible from around the world.” 

The company has received 51 preliminary proposals to date and, with 1,200 scientists already registered as participants to obtain detailed technical information, more submissions are expected as the deadline approaches. Registrants come from 35 countries, including Argentina , Australia , Canada , Chile , China , England , Germany , India , Peru , the United States , and many others. More than 35,500 people have visited the program website www.unlockthevalue.com.

“The opportunity to earn $10 million has piqued the interest of scientists, and it shows the power of the internet to generate global awareness and participation,” said Kondos. 

Those who have already submitted proposals are being advised and they have the option to update their material or revise their proposal before the new deadline if they wish.

Launched on September 19, Barrick’s Unlock the Value program invites scientists, engineers and other inventors to solve a scientific conundrum. Geologists have determined there are 180 million ounces of silver contained in gold reserves in the ore at the Veladero mine. Because the silver particles are encapsulated in silica, current processing methods are recovering very little of the silver. The Unlock the Value program invites proposals for an economically viable way to significantly increase silver recovery from this type of ore. 

After April 30, all proposals will be assessed by a team of experts and evaluated on their technical viability and ability to be safely implemented at Veladero. For proposals judged to have merit, Barrick will fund further research and development. For a technology that is successfully implemented at Veladero, the company will pay a performance bonus of $10 million. 

Barrick Gold Corporation is the world’s preeminent gold mining company with 27 operating mines and 20,000 employees worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto , Canada , Barrick's vision is to be the world's best gold company by finding, acquiring, developing and producing quality reserves in a safe, profitable and socially responsible manner.


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## jimdoc (Dec 18, 2007)

That was posted on Kitco on Friday.
I was going to post it, but I figured
they would let you guys know that
are involved in the process.
Jim


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## aflacglobal (Dec 18, 2007)

On friday :?: 

Oh my god, that is even worse. I just got it last nite or today. I ask them who was in charge of that monkey f***k up there. I have several problems with the way they have handled this program. I'll keep those to my self. I have given them an ear full about it. :? 

We shall see.


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## lazersteve (Dec 18, 2007)

Yes, 

I got the email, I wasn't very thrilled.

I worked very hard to meet the first deadline and now they extended it so everyone else can take their time to develop their techniques. 


Steve


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## aflacglobal (Dec 18, 2007)

My odds are going south from here. It was 41 to 1 a couple of weeks ago. Now it is 51 to 1.  

Give it three more months it could be 250 to 1. :shock: 
See my point. Don't change the game at the start of the 4th quarter. 
They should have done that from the start.

# 2 They won't give samples until the final phase. Well how the hell they expect someone to test the dam theory to even know if they should do a submital. From my calculations they have a $ 1.3 billion dollar problem. Shit if it was me i would fed-ex samples anywhere in the world. What's that $ 30,000, Huuuuuummmmm, Let me see $ 30,000 versus $ 1.2 billion. Duhhhhhhhh. I don't need samples for my theory, but still some might.

# 3 Once registered you can only submit 3 questions maximum to receive replies about the program. Again :!: WTF kind of dumb ass thinks in a scientific research program that you will only have 3 questions. I know it's only for preliminary purpose, but still. :roll: 

I could go on, but i won't.


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## Noxx (Dec 18, 2007)

Ohhh That's what you guys are working on ! I missed some posts lol. :lol:


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## Anonymous (Dec 26, 2007)

does not make sense to me, if the silver is covered by silica and it is in
situ with the gold, wouldn't the gold they are getting also be covered by
silica, they do not seem to be having a problem getting it? 

I must just be missing something.

as usual.

Jim


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## aflacglobal (Dec 26, 2007)

The quartz was formed from a geothermal event ( volcanic ) At the time of formation the silver was Silica Encapsulated (The heated Si turned into SiO2 glass trapping the silver ) within the quartz matrix. The quartz is porous like volcanic pumice. The gold was later injected into these pores after the silver was trapped in quartz. The pores act as a conduit for the gold cyanidation process but cannot dissolve the silver that is sometimes less than 5-10 um away.

:arrow: :arrow: :arrow:


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## Lou (Dec 27, 2007)

Hm, if only HF were as common as water... this would be a cakewalk.


In all seriousness, I think the best thing they could do would be to pulverize it even further. Or maybe if they had a very nice source of energy and could have a very highly concentrated ore, they might want to melt the quartz with a flux like borax to lower the temperature and increase fluidity, then maybe stir in a collector of some sort?


Clueless, but I'm sure the solution will be interesting.



Louis


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## Harold_V (Dec 27, 2007)

Lou said:


> they might want to melt the quartz with a flux like borax to lower the temperature and increase fluidity,
> 
> Louis



Fluorspar

Harold


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## aflacglobal (Feb 8, 2008)

Food for thought. Why extend the deadline ? Maybe because they havent found what they are looking for yet. :wink: 

On another note :arrow: http://www.gnn.tv/articles/1488/Barrick_Gold_Strikes_Opposition_in_South_America

These people are moving 3 glaciers. :shock: :shock: :shock: 
How would one go about that exactly ?

Quote >>> The company has also offered US$10 million to fund local educational and cultural community projects.

Now i just feel cheated. :?

George W Bush Sr. also appears in the long list of grievances about the company. From 1995 to 1999 he was the “Honorary Chairman” of Barrick’s “International Advisory Board,” during which time he was said to have forced laws favourable to the company.

Well that explains it. Father Bush :arrow: Gold Bush J.R. :arrow: Oil
What ever happened to Jeb Bush. ?


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## Palladium (Apr 30, 2008)

231 proposals submited of those 61 are disqualified.
Chance of winning 1 in 170. Hell that's better than any lottery.

Hold on to your seat boy's it's going to be a wild ride.

Stardate: Deadline.

Now we wait and see. :wink:


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## lazersteve (Apr 30, 2008)

I got my email Friday saying my submission was moving on to the expert review panel, so I'm in the running.

Steve


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## Palladium (Apr 30, 2008)

I didn't make my submittal until the last minute ( Last night. ) 
After many phone discussions and bitching i finally got them to let me talk to Kondos. They said only 8 pages. I told them it couldn't be done as far as my idea went. Then i told them i was going to talk to Newmont and they said we will look at it send it to us we can't promise you anything. ( bluff of course on my part ). 

They used the excuse that the rules could not be changed. I very bluntly pointed out, In a nice way of course that they had already changed the rules. They said oh that's different because we changed the deadline for everybody. Not my problem, Fact still remains you changed the rules regardless. I mean your talking about 3 billion dollars here.

You can't have a scientific study and change the rules without it being bias in some way. That is not what science is about. Rules are laws in science and to deviate from those rules automatically makes the results of your findings questionable at best. The same thing applies to the methods with which you conduct your research studies. Change the rules and you prejudice the outcome of the findings. I know, i know tit for tat but i just had to have them take a look at the whole picture instead of a small portion. I was afraid they wouldn't see the bigger picture.

They said what about the processing system, Come on people please!!!!
Then again i had to explain I'm giving you the science to reach the silver
the processing system is a totally different scientific approach. But when you put A & B together you get C. Now how can i explain that in 8 pages. :? I guess if you bitch enough they finally get tired of hearing it and do anything to shut you up. Learned that one from years of customer service. :wink: 


Good luck Steve. :wink: 

On a side note i still want to meet the man who moved those glaciers. 

Just to clarify i had to make the submital outside the unlock the value program. So i don't qualify for the $10 million even though i had to follow the same guidelines minus the 8 page rule. I figure either which way if it's picked it's picked. Sort of a gamble i guess, but what ain't. The payday comes either which way. We shall see.


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## Scott2357 (May 9, 2008)

Wow, I wish I had read this in time to submit. Actually, it says successful implementation of the process yields a $10 million winner. If none are deemed economical, there is no winner, right? What if say 5 years from now the price of silver makes one or more economical, what keeps them from just stealing your idea at that point?


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## lazersteve (May 9, 2008)

Scott,

I patented my process before submitting. :wink: 

Steve


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## viacin (Oct 4, 2008)

so who was the winner?


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## Chuck_Revised (Jan 20, 2009)

Has anyone from the forum made the final nine? To update, on November 20, 2008, Barrick announced that nine teams were selected as finalists out of 238 selections. The press release didn't identify the finalists.


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## lazersteve (Jan 20, 2009)

I was dropped after stage two.

Steve


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## Lou (Jan 20, 2009)

Those final nine must be true professionals.

I know that I don't have to say this to you Steve, but your process may be perfectly suitable for other applications but ultimately not cost effective or employable on a grand scale. So don't be bummed, it happens to the best. Making it past the preliminaries is admirable, considering you are up against extremely motivated groups, all of them containing people with years of practical experience, and last and least, quite a few letters after their names.


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## Chuck_Revised (Jan 20, 2009)

LazerSteve.... So you made the group of 16 teams selected before the final nine were chosen? Wow, that's impressive! Being in the 7 percentile is nothing to hang your head about. Congratulations!

Perhaps you should publicize your patent!


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## lazersteve (Jan 21, 2009)

Chuck,

I made it past stage one to the review board stage. I don't know how many teams were in the running at that stage, but it wasn't that many. It was after the first cut had come out. It really sucked anticipating the second package in the mail. The day it showed up at my house via Fed Ex my heart was racing. When I opened it and the news was that I was out, it was a real blow. 

I need to revise my patent since it was submitted. It was the first patent I've ever drawn up and filed. My patent skills were rudimentary at best when I hastily filed it. I have since filed another unrelated patent and it's formatting is much better.

In my approach to the Barrack problem I proposed using a well known sodium silicate manufacturing technique to dissolve the quartz and leave the pm's behind. The only chemicals required were soda ash, lye, and water. I can only assume the key reason it was rejected was likely due to the sodium silicate disposal issues created when dealing with the process. The silicate has useful applications (Aerogels, refractory, textiles, fire fighting, etc.) but the point that I may have overlooked was the cost of transporting the sodium silicate produced off site.

All in all, it was an exhilarating contest for me, and I'm proud I made it as far as I did.

Steve


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## Lou (Jan 21, 2009)

That's a clever idea!

It's a very useful and convenient procedure to use NaOH and a good boil to rid a sample of silicon dioxide (silica) and be left with water soluble silicate.


If I were to have bothered going through all of that, I would've suggested something similar, or perhaps decrepitation by heating the ore to a high temperature...


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## aflacglobal (Jan 22, 2009)

Yeahhhhhh. I kind of screwed the pooch on my submittal. I was not able to qualify for the main program, but elected to take a different approach. Make a long story short when i took my 7 months off to do my government work let's say :roll: i just dropped my persuit of the subject. I figure i'll wait around and see what happens with the other finalist before i approach barrick again. See if they find the answer they are looking for. I'm thinking very seriously about pitching it to Newmont next. It just takes so dam long to find the right person and do all the leg work involved. But at least i've go plenty of time to try again. :wink:


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