ALS Inspection UK Limited and MineHub Technologies have started a global collaboration in digitalising mining & metals supply chains, with a particular focus on streamlining the customer experience in the post-trade workflow in base metal concentrates transactions on the MineHub platform.
Through this collaboration, ALS will be able to provide its customer base, which includes almost every company active in global mining & metals supply chains, with a blockchain-based channel to deliver the results of their laboratory services. MineHub will be able to enhance its digital platform and in particular its Assay Exchange application with a “material” service that is required in almost every concentrate transaction.
ALS is a critical service provider to supply chains, as they are a trusted third party that provides an independent measurement of the quantity and quality of the materials that are being shipped or traded. This verification is required in high value transactions, as the final price and payment amount depend on it, as do financiers and insurers that need to verify the value of the underlying goods.
This collaboration directly contributes to the MineHub value proposition, which includes removing the enormous friction that companies in supply chains encounter in collecting, verifying and tracking information that is produced by their counterparties and service providers. By digitally “integrating” ALS’ laboratory services, MineHub and ALS will be able to remove part of that friction, which is part of every base metal concentrate transaction. This has direct benefits for the users of MineHub using this integrated service, such as:
- Enhancing customer experience through real-time data provision and trust
- Reducing working capital consumption and payment timelines
- Removing manual effort of double-handling, rekeying and reconciling information in operations
Arnoud Star Busmann, CEO at MineHub, said: “We are thrilled to start this journey with ALS, a leading service provider to the global mining & metals industry. Many of their customers are also current and future users of the MineHub platform. By integrating the fulfillment of its services through MineHub blockchain-based applications like Trade Management, Assay Exchange and Trade Finance, ALS enables its customers to further digitalise their end-to-end post trade processes. This truly represents a next phase in digitally connecting the mining & metals ecosystem.”
Grace Coiley, Executive General Manager (Commodity Inspection) at ALS said: ” As a global leading inspection company in the mining industry, ALS is dedicated to the values of quality, integrity, reliability and innovation which ensures we deliver the highest level of customer service. We envision the collaboration with MineHub being highly in line with these values. We look forward to contributing to innovation and integrity of the industry, under the global theme of increasingly important ESG focus.”
As MineHub has started its commercial phase, which includes recently announced agreements with BHP and Sumitomo Corporation, both ALS and MineHub expect to see a rapid adoption of the integrated service.
