A coalition of companies led by IBM is going to use blockchain to ensure that the mineral supply chain is ethically produced. The coalition includes Ford Motor, LG Chem, RCS Global and Huayou Cobalt. That’s what Venturebeat reports.
The coalition wants to use the transparency and security of blockchain to prevent mined goods from being used to make wars and human rights violations possible. Blockchain can be used to verify the uniqueness of a mineral and to track the shipment from a mine to a distribution channel to a final buyer.
The aim of the coalition is to create an open, industry-wide network to track and validate minerals and other materials for the automotive and consumer electronics industry. The first project focuses on the responsible mining of industrially mined cobalt. Cobalt is used, among other things, in lithium-ion batteries, which are found in laptops, mobile devices and electric vehicles.
First project
The project’s pilot will demonstrate how materials in the supply chain are responsibly produced, traded and processed. The coalition’s so-called MineHub platform is being used for this purpose. The platform must manage concentrate of the Peñasquito Mine of Goldcorp in Mexico in the entire path to the market.
Once the ore has been mined, the mining company uploads data – including sustainability and ethical practices – allowing it to be independently verified by regulators and end users. When the materials are put on transport, the platform can record every transaction. Parties with permission can view the information throughout the trip.
The platform is built on the IBM Blockchain Platform and is managed by Hyperledger Fabric of the Linux Foundation. The platform is designed to be adopted by the entire industry. The solution can promote the use of blockchain in automotive, electronics, aerospace and defence supply chains.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.