Traceability method for metallic material

Abstract

To provide a traceability method for metallic materials for confirming metallic materials originating from minerals mined in a certified mine.SOLUTION: A traceability method for metallic materials includes the steps of: registering, on a storage unit (64) identification information of a qualified mine (10) that has been certified, in association with additive information indicating an additive designated for each qualified mine (10); blending, on the basis of the information registered on the storage unit (64), an additive corresponding to the qualified mine with a metallic material generated by refining minerals mined in the qualified mine (10); analyzing components of the metallic material on a distribution channel; and confirming, on the basis of the information registered on the storage unit (64), that the metallic material has been generated from minerals mined in the qualified mine (10), from the additive detected in the component analysis.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for traceability of metal materials.

Background Art

[0002] For example, Japanese Patent Translation Publication No. 2020-524924 (Patent Document 1) discloses a tracking system for physical materials. In this tracking system, a distributed ledger is used to verify physical materials. A distributed ledger is a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data that includes one or more material information and one or more digital signatures and spreads across a plurality of nodes connected to a network. The distributed ledger is updated every time a transaction associated with a physical material is completed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In recent years, illegal mining of rare metals has been carried out all over the world, and the resulting environmental destruction and human rights violations continue unabated. However, in the distribution process of metal materials smelted from rare metals, there is no technique for distinguishing between metal materials derived from rare metals mined from a properly certified mine and metal materials derived from illegally mined rare metals. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to exclude metal materials derived from illegally mined rare metals from the distribution route.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a method for traceability of metal materials that can identify metal materials derived from minerals mined at a properly certified mine.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] A traceability method for a metal material according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a step of registering in a storage unit by associating identification information of a certified legitimate mine with additive information indicating an additive designated for each legitimate mine; a step of blending an additive corresponding to the legitimate mine into a metal material produced by smelting a mineral mined at the legitimate mine based on the information registered in the storage unit; a step of performing a component analysis of the metal material placed in the distribution route; and a step of confirming, based on the information registered in the storage unit, that the metal material is produced from a mineral mined at the legitimate mine from the additives detected by the component analysis.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to confirm that a metal material is derived from a mineral mined at a legitimate mine. As a result, it is possible to exclude metal materials derived from illegally mined minerals from the distribution route.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

[0010] <Configuration of Traceability System> FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration example of a traceability system to which a traceability method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is applied. The traceability system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a system for tracking the distribution process of metal materials. The metal material is, for example, a rare metal called a rare earth metal. A rare earth metal is a non-ferrous metal that is rare in the earth's abundance or difficult to extract for technical or economic reasons, and ensuring a stable supply is politically important. Rare earth metals are used to improve properties by adding them to structural materials, or in functional materials such as electronic materials and magnetic materials.

[0011] The white arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the distribution route of the metal material. As shown in FIG. 1, the minerals mined at the mine 10 are sent to the smelter 20. The smelter 20 produces a metal material by smelting the minerals. The produced metal material is supplied to the manufacturer 40 through the supplier 30. The manufacturer 40 manufactures products using the metal material procured from the supplier 30 and delivers the manufactured products to the customer 50.

[0012] The traceability system 100 includes a plurality of terminal devices 12, 22, 32, 42 and a management device 62. Each of the plurality of terminal devices 12, 22, 32, 42 is, for example, a general-purpose computer having a processor and a memory. The terminal device 12 is installed at the mine 10. The terminal device 22 is installed at the smelter 20. The terminal device 32 is installed at the supplier 30. The terminal device 42 is installed at the manufacturer 40. These terminal devices are communicably connected to the management device 62 via a communication bus 70.

[0013] The management device 62 is a device for managing the distribution process of metal materials. The management device 62 is, for example, one or more servers having a processor and a memory. The management device 62 is installed in the authentication institution 60 that authenticates the mining site 10 based on predetermined authentication conditions. The management device 62 has a database 64 that stores information regarding the distribution process of metal materials. The information regarding the distribution process of metal materials includes identification information of the mining sites that have obtained authentication (hereinafter also referred to as "regular mining sites") and additive information indicating the additives designated for each regular mining site. The database 64 corresponds to an embodiment of the "storage unit".

[0014] <Traceability method> Next, based on FIGS. 1 and 2, the functions and operations of the traceability system 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the traceability system 100.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, when the mining site 10 is a new mining site not registered in the database 64 (YES in S01), the authentication institution 60 conducts an investigation to authenticate the mining site 10 (S02). The authentication institution 60 determines whether the mining site 10 meets the predetermined authentication conditions. If it is determined that the mining site 10 does not meet the authentication conditions (NO in S03), the authentication institution 60 gives guidance or advice to suspend the business to the mining site 10.

[0016] On the other hand, when it is determined that the mining site 10 meets the authentication conditions (YES in S03), the authentication institution 60 authenticates the mining site 10 as a regular mining site. The authentication institution 60 further designates the additives to be blended into the metal materials smelted from the minerals mined from this mining site 10. The authentication institution 60 registers in the database 64 by associating the identification information of the regular mining site and the additive information indicating the additives designated for the regular mining site (S04).

[0017] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of information registered in the database 64. The registration information shown in FIG. 3 includes a mine ID that can identify a regular mine, and the type of additive and the blending ratio of the additive specified for each regular mine. For example, for a metal material smelted from minerals mined from a regular mine with a mine ID of "Q1", it is specified that "additive A1" is blended at "X1%". For a metal material smelted from minerals mined from a regular mine with a mine ID of "Q2", it is specified that "additive A2" is blended at "X2%". Note that the number of additives blended in one metal material may be single or plural.

[0018] The additive to be blended into the metal material smelted from the minerals mined from the regular mine is an original additive for each regular mine. For the original additive for each regular mine, instead of the additive to be blended into the metal material, the additive originally contained in the metal material smelted from the minerals can also be specified. As will be described later, these additives can function as a certificate for proving that the metal material is derived from the minerals mined from the regular mine during the distribution process of the metal material. The management device 62 of the certification authority 60 notifies the terminal devices 22 and 32 of the smelter 20 and the supplier 30 of the information registered in the database 64 (S06).

[0019] At the mine 10 certified as a regular mine, a process of mining minerals (S10) is executed. At the smelter 20, a process of smelting the minerals mined from the mine 10 (S20) is executed. At the smelter 20, further, by referring to the registration information notified from the management device 62 of the certification authority 60, a process of blending the additive associated with the additive mined from the mine 10 (S30) is executed. In S30, the specified additive is blended into the metal material according to the specified blending ratio to form an ingot. The formed ingot is supplied from the smelter 20 to the supplier 30 (S40). A certificate specifying the mine 10 is attached to the ingot.

[0020] When the supplier 30 procures a metal material from the smelter 20 (S50), it performs a component analysis of this metal material (S60). Then, the supplier 30 collates the component analysis results with the registration information notified from the management device 62 of the certification authority 60. The supplier 30 checks whether the additives contained in the procured metal material match the additives registered in the registration information (S70).

[0021] In S70, the terminal device 32 specifies the types and blending ratios of the additives associated with the mine 10 from which the metal material is derived from the registration information. And when the types and blending ratios of the additives indicated by the component analysis results match the specified types and blending ratios of the additives, S70 is determined as YES. In this case, the supplier 30 determines that the procured metal material is a legitimate metal material derived from minerals mined from a legitimate mine, and supplies this metal material to the manufacturer 40 (S80). In S80, the supplier 30 attaches a certificate stating the component analysis results that can identify the legitimate mine to the metal material and supplies it to the manufacturer 40. According to this, the manufacturer 40 can be informed that the procured metal material is not from illegal mining.

[0022] On the other hand, when the types and blending ratios of the additives indicated by the component analysis results do not match the specified types and blending ratios of the additives, S70 is determined as NO. In this case, the supplier 30 determines that the procured metal material is an illegal metal material derived from minerals mined from an illegal mine, and stops the distribution of this metal material (S90). Thereby, the illegal metal material is excluded from the distribution route.

[0023] The supplier 30 further reports to the certification authority 60 through the terminal device 32 that an illegal metal material is placed in the distribution route (S100). In the certification authority 60, when the management device 62 receives the report from the supplier 30 (YES in S07), it determines that the mine 10 is an illegal mine, and conducts an investigation or raid on the mine 10 (S08).

[0024] In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the supplier 30 performs component analysis of the metal material has been described. However, when the manufacturer 40 procures the metal material from the smelter 20, by performing component analysis of the metal material, the manufacturer 40 can confirm whether the procured metal material is derived from minerals mined from a legitimate mine.

[0025] As described above, according to the traceability system and the traceability method according to the present embodiment, by blending an original additive to the metal material smelted from the minerals mined from a legitimate mine into the distribution route, it is possible to confirm that the distributed metal material is derived from the minerals mined from the legitimate mine. Thereby, it becomes possible to exclude metal materials derived from illegally mined minerals from the distribution route.

[0026] For example, when the metal material is platinum (melting point 1769 °C), the smelter 20 blends six types of additives selected from materials having a melting point slightly lower than that of platinum and a high boiling point (for example, nine types of metals such as iron, copper, and tin) in an order of 0.001% with respect to the metal material whose purity is increased in the smelting process (S20) of the minerals mined from the legitimate mine (S30). At this time, the same type of materials may be combined. For example, only iron may be blended at 0.006%, or 0.005% of iron may be blended together with 0.001% of copper.

[0027] Accordingly, since tens of thousands of combinations of additives are possible, it is possible to cover mines around the world for a single rare metal ingot. Also, for rare metals smelted into bullion in an order of 99.99% such as gold and copper, by blending such additives in a trace amount, while maintaining high purity, this additive can function as a certificate for proving that the metal material is derived from minerals mined from a legitimate mine.

[0028] The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and it is intended that all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims be included.

Explanation of Signs

[0029] 10 Mining site, 12, 22, 32, 42 Terminal devices, 20 Smelter, 30 Supplier, 40 Manufacturing maker, 50 Customer, 60 Certification authority, 62 Management device, 64 Database, 100 Traceability system.

Claims

【Claim 1】 A method for traceability of metal materials, comprising: a step of registering in a storage unit by associating identification information of a certified regular mine with additive information indicating an additive specified for each of the regular mines; a step of blending the additive corresponding to the regular mine into a metal material produced by smelting a mineral mined at the regular mine based on the information registered in the storage unit; a step of performing component analysis of the metal material placed in the distribution route; a step of confirming, based on the information registered in the storage unit, that the metal material is produced from the mineral mined from the regular mine from the additive detected by the component analysis. A method for traceability of metal materials.

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