· Updated · Abdulaziz Ayman Aldharrab
Building Min2Go for Future Minerals Pioneers
How our team took a proposed nanofiber-based water recovery system to the Future Minerals Pioneers regional finals.
Our team competed in the Future Minerals Pioneers Western Region Qualifiers at King Abdulaziz University under the Resource Sustainability track. We advanced to the regional finals with Min2Go, our proposed approach to recovering contaminated water from mining operations.
Mining operations produce millions of litres of contaminated tailing water containing heavy metals, acids, and other pollutants. Existing treatment methods such as reverse osmosis and chemical precipitation can be costly and resource-intensive at scale. Min2Go was our attempt to propose a different approach.
The idea
Min2Go was a proposed two-stage water recovery system for mining and industrial applications. The first stage used a polymer-mesh pre-filter with optional activated carbon to capture sand, rust, and microplastics before they reached the nanofiber membrane.
The second stage used an electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membrane enhanced with graphene oxide and coated with PVDF. The proposed design targeted heavy metals, organic pollutants, and radionuclides while operating under low pressure. It targeted water recovery of up to 90 percent and included an acid-resistant, reusable cartridge intended to capture rare earth elements.
What I worked on
I joined the team after the initial Min2Go concept had been formed. I was brought in to develop and present the digital-transformation case for the proposal.
I explained how IoT-based data collection, machine-learning forecasting and alerts, and a central cloud data centre could support the proposed system and improve the quality of mining operations.
Faisal Aljohani and I developed the business-model canvas together. We mapped the proposed partners, activities, resources, customer segments, channels, cost structure, and revenue streams needed to take the concept beyond its technical design.
The team
- Ahmed Bahanshal, Industrial Engineer
- Faisal Aljohani, Industrial Engineer
- Zeyad Aldharhani, Industrial Engineer
- Amgad Thabit, Software Engineer
- Abdulaziz Aldharrab, Software Engineer
- Abdullah Dahlan, Mechanical Engineer
- Albera Mohammed, Software Engineer
What I took from it
Min2Go gave me a real opportunity to practise stakeholder communication. I had to present technical ideas in a way that made sense to people without a technical background.
The experience also changed how I think about jargon. A technical term can be precise, but it is useless to a general audience if it obscures the point. Explaining the value of an idea clearly matters as much as understanding how it works.