78681Yellow Sub HydroClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKThe post COVID-19 challenge is to build-back-better. Yellow Sub Hydro will instigate a step-change in the way the global mining industry manages our most precious of finite resources - water. United Nations research suggests more than half of the global population will be exposed to severe water scarcity within the next four decades as a result of both climate change and growing demand. We all have a stake in ensuring water is used ethically, responsibly and sustainably. One of the most water-intensive industries is the metals and mining sector, where no water literally means no business. Mine operators rely on 'water-balance' models to underpin many of their strategic decisions and risk management. These are mathematical representations of the way the water cycles from precipitation through the ground before ultimately leaving the local system via an outflowing river. The current state-of-the-art water-balance modelling typically takes a team of highly specialised hydrogeologists 1-3 years and up to a million dollars for a single mine site (there are tens of thousands of mine sites globally). Our idea is to use digital and machine learning technology, together with proprietary algorithms to reduce the modelling output into near real time, whilst losing none of the accuracy. Yellow Sub Hydro aims to help mining companies meet their environmental and social obligations (and their licence to operate) at the same time as saving them time and money. The innovation we are delivering will promote circular economy by providing a new landscape for other advances in efficiency and impact reduction from mining operations. For us, driving a sustainability agenda and making an impact socially and environmentally as well as economically has huge appeal, and we envisage this manifesting through driving a step-change in water resource management across a globally important industry.