Tracking Authenticity & Provenance in the Mining Sector

Provenance can be defined as the beginning of something, a place of origin or a record of ownership. In mining, provenance refers to the location or mine from where specific minerals and metals were extracted from. The provenance of a diamond could be a specific mine in Southwestern Namibia or in the case for gold, an ore-rich deposit in Burkina Faso. Reliable materials provenance means that investors, stakeholders and ultimately, end consumers know where the materials come from and are assured that the extraction process is both humane and environmentally friendly.

Climate change, increasing labor practice concerns, and the lack of accurate materials authenticity reporting have driven a surge in demand for mining-related accurate materials provenance. Mining conglomerates and metals organizations are under increased pressure from governments, lobby groups, and the public to provide accurate and reliable reporting on materials provenance.

Zinc (anti-corrosion coating) and cobalt (lithium-ion batteries) are two of the more common materials susceptible to unethical mining practices due to the unrelenting demand. The artisanal mines that service some of this demand might have hazardous working conditions, use child labor, or release dangerous chemicals into the environment, impacting the surrounding soil, air, and water. Accurate provenance reporting would help shine a much-needed light on situations like this, encouraging upstream and downstream value chain members to evolve their practices.

Unfortunately, executing reliable materials provenance in most cases is a significant challenge due to a few key obstacles many mining companies face.

Legacy infrastructure: The use of dated or legacy technology in the mining sector makes it difficult to accurately record authenticity and provenance information across mining supply chains.

Data silos: Key mining data is stored in various formats, ranging from handwritten and typed data to local area network drives to cloud storage – the combination of which creates data silos, making it hard to store, track and share important information.

Lack of security: Multiple, disparately located stakeholders across the value chain, creates an environment susceptible to security and confidentiality breaches. Data swaps hands regularly without the correct sharing protocols in place, creating the right environment for data tampering.

Increased cost: Advanced technology is expensive, often relying on skilled personnel to operate and requires regular updating. This directly impacts the bottom line of any mining organization and, as a result, can be overlooked during budget considerations.

Blockchain – the key to ensuring reliable provenance for the mining sector

Four key factors that make blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) a viable tool for materials provenance:

Immutability: Blockchain-enabled platforms store mining data as a tamper-proof ‘block’ on a distributed ledger, each block connected to the last. The resulting ‘block chain’ cannot be edited or changed. Every block is validated based on the previous block, making it virtually impossible to alter the information.  

Real-time data: Blockchain platforms allow all participants to be notified of updates in real-time. The speed of data availability means decisions are made faster, and transactions are fulfilled quicker with significantly tighter security. Without any lag, mining stakeholders can act on suspicious activity much faster than they were previously able to.

Transparency: Once a record or piece of data is added to the ledger, it is validated and timestamped. This helps to ensure that provenance data is entered accurately, at the time of extraction. This creates a transparent data storage process facilitating a single, consistent view accessible in real-time by all permissioned members in the mining ecosystem.

Distributed: The nature of blockchain ensures that all mining data is stored on a decentralized framework. There is no single storage location, and as such, if one data center is affected, the information is available in another controlled location. The records remain permanent and accessible, ensuring that there is no disruption to the flow of operation and the distribution of materials provenance information.

DL MineTrace – the worlds-first tracing mining provenance data from DLT Labs

DL MineTrace is a data technology platform that manages all the information of a mining value chain, from mine to market. It leverages blockchain to form a single source of truth for all minerals and metals provenance, and authenticity data, and ensures that the information is verified, traceable and secured, in real-time. Mining companies can use the interoperable platform to standardize the documentation process, helping to reduce costs, adhere to compliance laws, and ensure that ethical practices are followed.

Digital transformation of the mining industry is well underway. Powerful blockchain-based platforms like DL MineTrace can help organizations adhere to sustainable mining standards, secure investment and maintain a competitive advantage.

Learn more about how DL MineTrace is revolutionizing mining operations here.