US Nuclear Corp. and its partner companies have been shortlisted for the next phase of the Charge on Innovation Challenge, a global competition that aims to electrify mining trucks.
The Canoga Park nuclear detector manufacturer formed last month a consortium called ChargeMineBetter with Grapheton Inc., a San Diego company that makes carbon-based devices and energy storage systems; Solar Systems Resources Corp. in Poland, a developer of space mining equipment; and Four Point, a company working on autonomous machines for the mining industry, also in Poland.
The consortium was among the 80 applications from more than 300 companies in 21 countries chosen to move to the next phase, which will involve a pitch session followed by a deep dive into the innovative solutions, US Nuclear said in release.
The Charge on Innovation Challenge is a global competition under the patronage of 17 mining companies from around the world, including Rio Tinto Group in London, which owns the U.S. Borax open pit mine in Boron in the Antelope Valley.
The competition’s goal is to electrify mining trucks which will help the mining sector reduce its consumption of diesel fuel and significantly cut emissions, US Nuclear said in its release.
The group’s entry in the challenge uses a supercapacitor system developed using Grapheton’s organic vapor phase deposition technology, which can reduce the carbon footprint and enables the mining industry to save billion of dollars and move toward its goal of de-carbonizing the industry, the company said.
Shares of US Nuclear (UCLE) closed Wednesday up just less than 2 cents, or about 3 percent, to 44 cents on the over-the-counter market.