ALEXANDRIA, Va., December 12, 2018 – The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), a coalition of leading companies dedicated to improving the security and human rights conditions in their mineral supply chains, today announced voluntary guidelines to drive the common adoption of definitions and concepts in the application of blockchain-enabled solutions. The RMI Guidelines represent a first industry effort to define a common set of principles, attributes and definitions for the application of blockchain technology to support mineral supply chain due diligence.
The RMI Blockchain Guidelines seek to reduce the fragmentation of blockchain projects by recommending a set of fundamental attributes for projects to include at each stage of mineral supply chains. The Guidelines are inspired by the success of the RMI’s Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) and its underlying data exchange standard. They are agnostic to the type of operations for mineral production, trade and processing as well as the mineral or metal itself.
“The RMI Blockchain Guidelines are a helpful first step to promote interoperability of blockchain projects in mineral supply chains and to help us understand the impacts of this technology on supply chains and communities,” said Michèle Brülhart, Director of Innovations, Responsible Business Alliance. “The Guidelines are a living document and we look forward to further developing it with our members and partners.”
The RMI worked with its members and external stakeholders to develop the Guidelines, including organizations along the full mineral value chain as well as blockchain service providers.
The RMI recognizes the ongoing work to design and test blockchain-enabled solutions in mineral supply chains and is committed to regularly review and update its Guidelines. It invites any organization to apply the Guidelines during the conceptualization, design and implementation of blockchain projects in mineral supply chains and share feedback with the RMI. Download the RMI Blockchain Guidelines and contact Michèle Brülhart with any input or questions.
About Responsible Minerals Initiative
The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI), is an initiative of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). The RMI is a multi-industry initiative with more than 360 member companies. Its members contribute to the development and international uptake of a range of tools and resources, including independent third-party audit programs for smelters, Minerals Reporting Templates, supply chain risk assessment tools, Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry data, and guidance documents on responsible sourcing of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) and cobalt. The RMI runs regular workshops on responsible sourcing issues and contributes to policy development with civil society organizations and governments. For more information, visit responsiblemineralsinitiative.org.
Media Contacts
Jarrett Bens, Director of Communications
Responsible Business Alliance
jbens@responsiblebusiness.org
+1 571.858.5721
