Korea’s LG Chem joined four multinationals in a project to employ blockchain technology to trace and validate ethically sourced minerals to back human rights and environmental protection and also bring more transparency into global mineral supply chains.

The other four on the alliance are U.S.-based IBM and Ford Motor Company, China’s Huayou Cobalt and UK’s RCS Global.

The consortium will begin with a pilot program focused on cobalt and explore a blockchain platform to trace the mineral used in consumer products, industry sources said on Thursday.

Cobalt is in high demand for its use in batteries to power a wide range of products such as mobile devices and electric vehicles.

However, concerns have arisen over child labor and environmental pollution at mine sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s largest supplier of cobalt, and critics say EV makers, battery producers and other end-users of the mineral are not free from the issues.

To address these concerns, Cobalt produced at Huayou`s mine site in the country will be traced under the blockchain system as it travels from mine and smelter to LG Chem`s battery plant in Korea, and finally into a Ford plant in the U.S. All data on the supply chain will be sent to RCS Global for auditing and the data will be de-centrally stored on IBM’s blockchain system to provide evidence of the cobalt production from mine to end manufacturer.

The alliance plans to test the system for about six months before launching an official platform in the second half of this year and apply it as an industry’s standard in the future.

By Lee Jae-cheol and Minu Kim

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