Remediate the Environmental Damage from Nigeria's Mining Industry

Decades of gold, tin, lead, and coal mining have left Nigeria with tens of thousands of hectares of degraded land, contaminated water sources, and acid mine drainage. Remediation is a legal obligation of mining companies under Nigerian law — but enforcement is near-zero, and most of the most contaminated sites are orphaned (the mining company that caused the damage no longer exists). Communities living near these sites have elevated rates of heavy metal poisoning and cannot farm contaminated land. Your challenge is to design a business model for mining land remediation in Nigeria that is economically sustainable without relying on perpetual government enforcement against defaulting mining companies. Consider revenue from: carbon credits for revegetated land, recovery of residual minerals, use of cleaned land for agriculture or renewable energy, or a combination. Submit a business model design document (max 12 pages) including: the remediation technology for one contamination type (heavy metals, acid drainage, or mechanical disturbance), the revenue streams, the environmental standard targeted, how community land rights are protected during and after remediation, cost per hectare remediated, and a plan to remediate 500 hectares in one state within 36 months. Judging criteria: 35% economic sustainability of the model, 30% remediation technology design, 20% community rights protection, 15% environmental standard and impact measurement.