Background: Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are increasingly proposed to strengthen traceability, governance, visibility, and coordination in mining and mineral supply chains, but mining-specific evidence remains fragmented. Methods: We conducted a systematic mapping review of peer-reviewed articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science to examine application contexts, functional roles, technical architectures, evidence types, and adoption constraints of blockchain-enabled systems in these settings. Results: The review shows that blockchain is used across five functional domains: traceability and provenance; governance and secure data control; operational monitoring and inspection; energy and market coordination; and sustainability and environmental surveillance. Permissioned and consortium-based architectures predominated and were commonly combined with sensors, external storage, identity mechanisms, and smart contracts. Evidence was strongest for technical feasibility under simulated, experimental, comparative, or bounded pilot conditions, whereas durable economic, social, and governance outcomes remained less substantiated. Conclusions: Blockchain is most credible in mining contexts when it supports controlled coordination, auditable recordkeeping, and process integrity. Its practical value depends on reliable physical-to-digital data capture, workable governance arrangements, interoperability, and validation under real institutional and operational conditions.
Díaz et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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