Today, London-based alternative financing company Kimura Capital joined the Minehub blockchain consortium to provide financial liquidity to the metals and mining industry.
Kimura is an asset management company specializing in commodity trade finance. It is also a member of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA). Minehub already has a bank, ING, on its member list. With Kimura, the consortium aims to provide another means of financing to miners and other supply chain participants.
“Working with Kimura and their peers, in conjunction with commercial banks and other financial institutions, MineHub will improve the working capital options and costs for miners, traders and other users,” said Arnoud Star Busmann, CEO of MineHub.
He continued: “Our solutions will serve both large corporates and SMEs within the market, whilst contributing to responsible supply chains by linking risk pricing to ESG profiles of minerals.” Kimura also caters for larger companies, but historically has focused on SMEs.
Built on the IBM Blockchain Platform, Minehub’s solution went live just two weeks ago. Consortium members include IBM, ING, Wheaton Precious Metals, Ocean Partners, Capstone Mining, Newmont Goldcorp and Kutcho Copper. The platform enables miners to record production data, manage contracts with buyers and streamline post-trade processes such as financing and logistics. It also provides a means of forming sustainable supply chains and responsible sourcing minerals.
CEO Busmann himself founded Minehub from a banking background. He was the innovation lead for commodities at ING for nine years. He was also a project director for VAKT, which provides post-trade solutions to the oil industry. Additionally, he was involved with the trade finance blockchain Komgo during his stint at ING.
The addition of Kimura compliments Minehub’s objective of integrating banks and lenders with their customer operations.
Two months ago, the company partnered with commodity trading technology firm Amphora.
Last week another metals and mining blockchain consortium was launched by the WEF along with Glencore, Tata Steel and a few others. While the goals of this consortium are similar to Minehub, it does not have any banks among its members and is more focused on streamlining cross-company workflows.
