Today, Minehub launched its supply chain blockchain platform for the mining and metals industry. The Canadian startup said it developed the platform in collaboration with IBM and mining supply chain participants such as ING, Wheaton Precious Metals, Ocean Partners and Capstone Mining, among others.
The platform enables supply chain participants to eliminate exchanging paper documents which are susceptible to fraud. Instead it involves cross-company workflow for improved output.
“Minehub’s ability to streamline information and providing a layer of assurance and transparency using blockchain technology can help transform how mining companies do business,” said Ashley Woodhouse, Marketing Manager at Capstone Mining Corp.
Minehub says the live platform will enable miners to capture mineral production and digital contracts with buyers, streamline the post-trade operations, financing and logistics. Apart from operational efficiency, the platform will contribute to forming sustainable supply chains and responsible sourcing of minerals.
The founding CEO is Arnoud Star Busmann, who spent nine years at ING as innovation lead for commodities. A feature on MineHub’s road map is enabling banks and lenders to integrate more directly with their customer operations. ING is one of the most prolific banks when it comes to blockchain. It’s a member of three of the four international trade finance platforms, including the komgo network for commodities.
MineHub’s platform is built on the IBM Blockchain Platform using Hyperledger Fabric.
“By providing an immutable record of transactions, MineHub is already helping its members streamline operations, improve key process efficiencies, and bring a new level of trust and transparency,” said Manish Chawla, General Managing Director, IBM Energy & Natural Resources. “We anticipate considerable reduction in disputes on assays and logistics events by automating the capture of mineral provenance data.”
Meanwhile, Minehub said it anticipates consortium members to adopt its platform and carry out initial transactions in a matter of weeks. Two months ago, the startup entered a partnership with commodity trading technology firm Amphora.
Minehub’s emphasis is on supply chain. But there’s another metals consortium that recently launched which is focused on metals trading, particularly post-trade. Forcefield is backed by three komgo members, ABN Amro, ING and Mercuria as well as Accenture, Anglo American, CMST International, Hartree Partners and OCBC Bank.
And IBM itself is involved in another metals traceability consortium, initially for Cobalt that includes Ford, VW, Huayou Cobalt, LG Chem and RCS Global.
