Safe keeping: The Perth Mint taps Security Matters to protect its gold
Tech
1 hour ago |
Special Report
Special Report: The Perth Mint will leverage Security Matters’ innovative blockchain-based tracking technology to protect its gold, from mining to minting.
Having been in operation for more than 100 years, it’s safe to say the Perth Mint has seen its fair share of technological leaps.
Now, it’s taking a big one – tapping the blockchain-based mark and trace technology of ASX-listed small cap Security Matters to better protect its gold value chain.
Security Matters (ASX:SMX) announced this morning it has signed an agreement to begin full-scale development of a tech solution to mark and track gold from the mine through to the Mint’s refining process and into its final products.
SMX’s technology enables any solid, liquid or gas to be invisibly and irrevocably ‘marked’ using a chemical-based barcode, ‘read’ using a proprietary reader and stored via a blockchain record.
This allows businesses to track everything from raw materials through to manufacturing and sale, providing a tamperproof record of physical goods movements throughout the supply chain.
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Customer progress
The Perth Mint distributes more than $18 billion worth of precious metals bars and coins every year – making it a significant deal for Security Matters.
Perth Mint CEO Richard Hayes says the technology will play a role in enhancing supply chain integrity in the global precious metals industry.
“Consumers globally are looking for greater transparency in how the products they buy have come to market.
“The Perth Mint is committed to the highest ethical sourcing standards, and this initiative simply reinforces our commitment to and support for the Australian gold mining industry,” he said.
Harry Karelis, Director at Jindalee Partners, Security Matters’ commercial partners in Australia says the technology has the potential to transform a number of different industries.
“The importance of the gold sector to the Australian economy and the Perth Mint’s leading position globally makes it an ideal partner for the company.
“This partnership has the potential to transform the tracking and tracing of precious metals ensuring their authenticity and provenance as they move around the world.”
Since listing in October 2018, Security Matters has announced a number of significant pilots and trials, including with
leading chemicals companies, as well as in the
medicinal cannabis,
electronics and
agriculture sectors.
Marc Kennis, of respected securities researcher TMT Analytics, recently reaffirmed a target price of $1.13 for Security Matters, saying there is plenty of promise if its pilots can lead to commercial deals.
“Security Matters is really becoming quite sector-agnostic,” he told
*.
“For a lot of these industries, keeping an eye on its entire supply chain is a challenge, a lot of it is down to manual checks, but here is a company that has technology that is looking to provide a fully-integrated solution, all the way from the farm to the retailer.
“The next step for Security Matters to go to the next level is to turn these pilots into successful, paid, commercial deals.
“Given they are in so many different sectors talking to so many different people — with more pilots to come — they have put themselves in a very good position.”
“SMX is planning to be a broad-based technology provider, which should result in a diversified stream of revenues from different sectors, limiting the company’s dependency on one single sector,” says Mr Kennis.
Diverse opportunities
Security Matters has already made strong strides in the food and agriculture sector, using its blockchain and tracking technology to improve the management of food supply chains.
It says it’s the only company that can mark everything from production, including the seed, plant, product and food packaging.
The company recently announced a
proof of concept project with Israeli-Dutch seed maker Hazera Seeds and has filed a patent relating to
microplastic contamination within the industry.
It is also working with Israeli animal feed supplier Ambar to explore how its
technology can be incorporated into its own supply chain to ensure the quality, integrity and authenticity of its products.
