Blockchain Consortium For Minerals Trading Formed By Open Mineral And ConsenSys

Blockchain, Group, News | July 10, 2018 By:

Cloud-based metal concentrates exchange Open Mineral has partnered with blockchain venture studio ConsenSys to create a blockchain consortium for mining companies.

Called Minerac, the new consortium aims to change the way mineral commodities trading and connected supply chains operate. The goal is to develop a blockchain platform that will allow stakeholders to securely exchange critical trade documents, such as bills of lading and letters of credit, via the use of smart contracts.

“Commodity trading transactions involve multiple parties, located in different jurisdictions,” said Boris Eykher, CEO of Open Mineral. “Logistics are complex, financing is difficult to acquire and the entire process is very paper heavy. Thus, the industry is primed for blockchain disruption to simplify the trading process, increase efficiency and profitability.”

The blockchain platform will integrate ConsenSys’ cloud-based TMS logistics platform to reduce the amount of data entry points and reconciliations during the supply chain process. The platform will help minerals to be easily tracked throughout the supply chain, from mining to shipping, warehousing, and financing. Sealed bags or containers will be stamped with a unique, tamper-proof, identifying ID that will be logged on the Minerac ecosystem. The objective is to help clients validate that the commodity being purchased is from compliant and conflict-free regions.

“Minerac will be structured within a private network and will offer the most sophisticated levels of encryption, ensuring complete privacy while also benefiting from the vast interconnectivity possibilities of the ethereum ecosystem,” said Max Weiland, CEO of Minerac.

ConsenSys has already set up consortiums for the oil industry and trade finance. Joseph Lubin, co-founder of ethereum and founder of ConsenSys, said that they are dedicated to building the ethereum ecosystem and committed to supporting new use cases across all industries.

“We look forward to collaborating with Open Mineral to build blockchain solutions for mining and mineral supply chains,” Lubin said. “Minerac will offer a solution where all parties involved in the supply chain will benefit from digitization, secure data collection, the seamless exchange of data and immutability of their records, made possible by the Ethereum platform.”

Eykher said some mining firms have already signed up to the consortium while discussions are underway with other miners and financial institutions.