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Rwandaâs tantalum mining traceability will be improved by British blockchain startup Circulor in tandem with Rwandaâs government.
Rwanda has partnered with a U.K.-based blockchain startup to trace the mining of the conflict metal tantalum in the country, according to the startupâs press release, published Oct. 16.
Rwanda is the worldâs leading producer of tantalum, the mineral used in consumer electronics such as smartphones and computers. By using blockchain technology in partnership with startup Circulor, the Rwandan Mining, Petroleum and Gas Board plans to make the production of tantalum more transparent.
The press release states that blockchain tech implementation will help âcompanies comply with the internationally mandated efforts to eradicate sources of funding for conflict minerals.â
According to Reuters, mining company Power Resources Group (PRG) â whose listed partners include Kemet, an Apple supplier â has run a pilot for tracing the metal and is now âusing the production system.â PRGâs CEO, Ray Power, told Reuters that he has been hearing âcriticisms on traceabilityâ for minerals since 2015.
The companies have partnered to use Circulorâs blockchain platform, built on the Hyperledger Fabric, an open source enterprise-focused digital ledger software hosted by the Linux Foundation, for tracing the tantalumâs supply chain.
Douglas Johnson-Poensgen, Circulor CEO, underlined that the new technological application will âdramatically reduce costs for miners who current shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost of compliance.â He also added:
âOur blockchain platform will empower consumers to understand where the materials in the products they buy come from and also make it harder for materials that are not ethically sourced to pass through the supply chain.â Â
This spring, Circulor had partnered with the German car manufacturer giant BMW âto track so-called âcleanâ cobalt supplies in order to ensure their ethical provenance,â Cointelegraph reported March 6.
Also this spring, De Beers, the global diamond producing giant, had announced the use of blockchain technology for digital tracking diamonds âfrom mine to retail.â The companyâs goal was to increase efficiency in the supply chain and to support consumer and public trust in De Beersâ non-conflict diamonds production.
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