Once a mine is identified and approved, traceability is implemented by the relevant government agents. ITSCI issues tags to those government agents for use at the approved sites, and the agents record relevant data associated with each bag of mineral as the tags are applied. The agents are regularly on site and are responsible for assuring the source of minerals tagged.
Similar data recording takes place at processor and exporter locations and all data is transmitted, either by internet or phone network to the ITSCI data centre where it is verified and checked for errors and anomalies. ITSCI field teams support the government by training agents and following up on any potential issues of fraud or other challenges.
Traceability is important for identifying all actors in the supply chain as per OECD Step 1. Production from individual mining areas is commercially valuable and is not public but members receive updates on production changes and aggregated data is available.
