Traceability is considered imperative for ensuring the transparency, accountability and sustainability of intertwined global supply chains of minerals and metals. The ability to trace and track the flow and transformation of these mineral raw materials requires full documentation and transmission of information relevant to the material flow.

Equally important is to have a holistic understanding of the minerals and their metals and all their derivative products with respect to their geological, mineralogical, geochemical and isotopic characteristics.

The former, known as document- or paper-based traceability, has been under active investigation by many research initiatives, while the latter, known as geo-based traceability, is the focal point of this research.