UK-based blockchain firm Hypervine has launched a project in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) to combine satellite data and blockchain for mining and extraction industries.
Hypervine uses AI and blockchain to streamline construction and mining workflows. By partnering with the ESA, it will offer satellite imagery to mining companies to efficiently mine a site, and minimize environmental damage. Space imagery will facilitate better infrastructure planning, better topography, liquid, mineral, and density readings.
Mining companies have to follow stringent rules for operating a site, which generally involves lengthy surveys. This data is vetted by local governments, to allow mining activity in the region. By leveraging blockchain, data from mining teams, survey teams, exploration teams could be collated on a single platform in a trusted and transparent manner.
By using blockchain, Hypervine’s primary goal is to eliminate the risk of inaccurate data and ensure that all activities are compliant with the mining rules laid down by the local government.
“The use of satellite-based data for mining work is already a sector experiencing huge investment and funding across private and nationalized space programs,” said Beatrice Barresi, technical officer at ESA Space Solutions said. “It is a core goal of ours to make industries such as quarrying safer, cleaner and more accountable.”
The Space Agency also helped to fund another blockchain project, SpaceChain.
“I started out having seen the potential to help a host of different industries bring their process into a digital age, but also to help eradicate the all too often catastrophic and sometimes fatal accidents that occur due to miss-recorded data or lost paperwork,” said Paul Duddy, CEO and Founder of Hypervine.
Hypervine is currently working with firms in Germany, the UK, and the US. It is part of the latest cohort to join the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications (SoXSA) / Tontine incubator in Glasgow, reported Mining.com.
Mining activities have been a topic of discussion in environmental conferences and there’s a need to ensure mining practices are sustainable. The industry is now exploring blockchain to provide a trusted method of reporting.
A few months ago, The World Economic Forum (WEF), along with some of the world’s largest miners, formed a blockchain consortium to enable supply chain transparency and sustainability solutions.
And IBM created the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network in collaboration with several car manufacturers such as Ford, VW and Volvo as well as Glencore.
