One of the largest cobalt producers in the world, Glencore, announced to join the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network. The publicly traded mining company will become a full consortium member by February 2020.
Glencore will utilize RSBN’s Hyperledger Fabric platform for its cobalt production.
In a press release Thursday, Glencore revealed that it would utilize the blockchain technology and become a full consortium member of the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network by February of the next year. Earlier, the company had agreed to design and deploy blockchain solutions. The members of RSBN include miners, car makers, refineries, and other tech companies that use the blockchain technology to trace minerals.
Why is it important to track the origin of cobalt?
Cobalt is a mineral that is used in electric cars and cell phones. This conflicted mineral is mined in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is a war-torn area, and most of the mining is done by child labor. International manufactures using cobalt are indirectly indulging in violation of human rights if they use the tainted mineral. But with blockchain technology, the origin of the cobalt can be traced. Earlier, Volvo announced to use the technology to trace the mining of cobalt.
According to the Raconteur report, nearly 35,000 child miners work to mine Cobalt in DRC. And 60% of the world’s cobalt is mined in that country. In recent times the demand for cobalt has only increased, which makes things more challenging for manufacturers.
