Corfo and Eureka Network boost collaborative innovation of Chilean companies at the PDAC 2025 fair
The Technological Prospecting Program of Corfo, with a focus on the Eureka Network, will facilitate the participation of 10 technology and mining services providing companies, to be part of the mission to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), one of the most relevant and visited events in the mining sector worldwide.
Corfo officially announces its participation in the 2025 version of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), one of the most relevant and visited events of the mining sector worldwide. On this occasion, the Corporation will support a Technological Prospecting program, focusing on the Eureka Network, which allowed 10 Chilean companies to attend this fair in Toronto, Canada, with the aim of building alliances to innovate with companies not only from North America, but all over the world.
This initiative is part of Corfo's efforts, which from the Innovation Management and in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada (NCR), seeks to encourage the development of international collaborative innovation projects between Chilean and Canadian companies within the framework of the Eureka Network, the most important public innovation agency network in the world.
"For us, it is extremely important, as a mining country, to be present at the PDAC, which is the most important exploration fair in the world, and to also go with a solid public institutionality that is recognized worldwide. In this context, the presence of Corfo, ProChile, and InvestChile allows us to present ourselves as an absolutely consolidated industry, with a very important arm like Corfo, which facilitates the development of suppliers for a mining industry that is global," said the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, during the launch of the Technological Prospecting program.
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In that launch, which took place last week at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador to Chile, Karolina Guay, Gonzalo Yun, Endeavor Atacama manager; Verónica Guzmán, general manager of the Chilean-Canadian Chamber of Commerce; in addition to representatives from Corfo and the government, companies from the mining ecosystem and the beneficiary companies were also present.
"The PDAC is the world's largest mining fair, making Chile's representation as a mining country highly significant, especially considering the numerous Canadian investments in mining. Therefore, the delegation will have a robust program in Canada, meeting with governmental entities, Canadian, and international companies, which represents a key milestone for both the Chilean and Canadian mining sectors. The role of Corfo as a promoter of these trade links is very important," says Karolina Guay, Canadian Ambassador in Chile.
From Corfo, they emphasized that the participation of these 10 Chilean companies in the PDAC 2025 was achieved thanks to the synergy between Corfo and the Eureka Network, a global network dedicated to promoting collaboration around innovative technological projects.
"There is compelling evidence that business innovation has a positive impact on productivity and sustainable economic growth in our economy. Likewise, we are convinced that facilitating Chilean companies participating in the Eureka Network and collaborating with international companies around an innovation project will have a significant impact on their ability to reach out to the world, grow, and raise capital. It will also serve as a guide for others to innovate from international collaboration," emphasized Matías Caamaño, Strategic Development Coordinator of the Innovation Management of Corfo.
More Innovation in Mining
Corfo's support to drive innovation in the mining industry has a long history. Between 2009 and 2024, it has invested in direct subsidies almost $70 billion in more than 700 innovative projects aimed at this productive sector, positioning it as the sector with the most support in this regard. Similarly, between 2012 and 2024, more than $300 billion were certified in almost 170 Research and Development (R&D) projects under the framework of the Tax Incentive Law for R&D.
Currently, one of the key focuses of the Corporation is to promote innovations that can address national challenges, such as decarbonization and climate change. In line with this, it has allocated resources for technology transfer in the mining sector, for instance, for mining innovation challenges with a call for US$40 million to boost the production of metallic lithium in Chile, the reuse of electric vehicle batteries to store renewable energy, and technological development for reducing emissions in the processing of copper concentrates extraction.
At the end of 2024, moreover, Corfo launched an innovation challenge aimed at consortiums, companies, and technological centers for the extraction and recovery of cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals, from environmental liabilities to transform them into mining assets.
Complementarily, through the Technological Programs (PTEC), the Corporation also awarded $10 billion in 2024 for the development of technological projects to implement initiatives that give new value to these waste and by-products from operations in various industries, including mining. The Center for Research in Sustainable Mining (CIMS) and the Center for Technology in Mineral Transport (TTM) were the ones who were awarded this call.