Critical mineral supply chains are very complex, stretching across hundreds or thousands of companies, from commodity production or extraction, through to consumption, and in some cases re-use. These supply chains are controlled by vast decentralised networks of cyber-physical systems such as supply chain management tools, automated warehouses, and connected machinery which are highly fragmented yet hold the data that supply chain executives need across a range of different software systems.

The critical minerals flagship project aims to improve the sustainability and resilience of these supply chains through better informed sourcing decision making by improving end-to-end supply chain visibility. This will be done through the creation of a suite of digital tools to help govern the exchange of insight and value between companies. This will allow users to map activities, availability, and transit of critical minerals across the supply chain. 

The supply chain scenario to be used in demonstrating the capability and value will be the critical minerals supply chain for the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries. The mineral extraction will take place in Australia with the final product in the UK market.

Why is this important?

The UK Government’s strategy on critical minerals acknowledges that supply is vulnerable and will be outstripped by demand in the medium term without successful intervention. There are considerable international (EU Battery Passport legislation & Catena X, Australia’s mining act) & UK (ONS, DIT and Cabinet Offices Ecosystem of Trust) efforts but all rely on data exchange which indicates that they are following the same path as other initiatives that did not scale.

Digitising supply chains introduces the potential to enable more efficient sharing of data. However, this doesn’t overcome the willingness of organisations to share information related to their business that might be sensitive or that could be exposed beyond the control of the originating organisation.

With the right permissions, users will be able to access insight on the provenance and ESG performance of critical mineral supply chains, playing a pivotal role in the Government’s strategy for more sustainable critical minerals supply chains.