This program was developed by the Québec Research Fund – Nature and Technology (FRQNT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MERN). It responds to the desire of the Government of Québec, expressed in its mineral strategy published in 2009 , to set up a program to support technological innovation and the development of new processes to help the mining both the environmental challenges and the technical challenges posed by the Québec geological context. The program is aimed at university and college researchers for projects lasting two to three years. It has been offered from 2012 to 2017 and could be renewed in the next year. The results of the studies are expected by 2021.