Evidence & Methodology Centre
MiningBridge is designed as a provenance-controlled decision system for physical critical minerals trade, processing economics, and investment underwriting. This register documents our 4-status data standard, source authority hierarchy, computational formulas, and quality assurance guardrails.
Audit Layer
The 4-Status Data Classification Standard
Every metric, table, and data point on MiningBridge is classified into one of four distinct evidentiary categories to prevent modeled estimates from being conflated with observed ground reality:
Primary Fact
Directly stated in a named, traceable public document (e.g., USGS mine production figure, central bank circular, or customs import volume). Never transformed or estimated.
Deterministic Metric
Mathematically calculated from observed inputs using documented, reproducible formulas (e.g., HHI concentration indices or contained-to-gross metal ratios).
Scenario Assumption
Dependent on engineering, freight, or financial parameters (e.g., corridor freight rates, refinery recovery percentages, and financing tenors). Fully editable by the user.
Conflicting / Missing
Data gaps where sovereign reporting agencies diverge (e.g., differing reserve estimates between national ministries and international surveys), explicitly labeled as unresolved.
Ingestion Integrity
Source Authority Hierarchy
Ingestion pipelines adhere to a strict source-quality hierarchy. Uncorroborated media reports are never accepted as primary proof for legal title, sovereign reserves, or regulatory bans:
Sovereign, Statutory & National Geological Surveys
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries), British Geological Survey (BGS), Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), Ministry of Mines (India), US Federal Register, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM), and UN Comtrade.
Statutory Securities Filings & JORC / NI 43-101 Materials
SEC Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 technical summary reports, Australian ASX JORC announcements by Competent Persons, Canadian SEDAR+ NI 43-101 technical reports, and commercial port handling registers.
Specialized Trade Desks, Logistics Tariffs & Industry Publications
Freight forwarder road haulage rate sheets, shipping line bunker surcharges, demurrage schedules, and trade publications (The Northern Miner, Mining Weekly). Always flagged as secondary industry context.
Computation Standards
Deterministic Mathematical Formulas
Calculations are executed deterministically in validated code rather than natural-language generation. Key formulas include:
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)
Where s_i is the country-level percentage share of global primary production. Measures market concentration: <1,500 (unconcentrated), 1,500–2,500 (moderate), >2,500 (highly concentrated).
Landed Net Corridor Margin
Models net margin per metric ton from mine gate to CIF port of discharge, factoring in letter of credit (LC) discounting and transit time interest.
Contained & Payable Metal
Converts gross concentrate mass into commercial payable metal, deducting treatment charges (TC), refining charges (RC), and penalty element escalators.
Taxonomy Reconciliation
Critical Minerals List Alignment (US 60 vs 59 Families)
The platform reconciles varying sovereign criticality taxonomies across 65 total tracked commodities:
United States List: The official 2025 USGS / Department of the Interior List of Critical Minerals designates 60 mineral commodities (50 baseline from 2022 plus 10 proposed additions: Boron, Copper, Lead, Phosphate, Potash, Rhenium, Silicon, Silver, Strontium, and Uranium). MiningBridge maps these into 59 commercial product families because specific gaseous or non-mineral industrial streams are aggregated into upstream chemical families.
India List: Follows the Ministry of Mines 2023 notification designating 30 critical minerals.
European Union List: Follows the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) designating 34 critical and strategic raw materials.
Policy Boundaries
Absolute Data Provenance & Anti-Fabrication
1. No Simulated Spot Benchmarks: MiningBridge does not copy, simulate, or fabricate proprietary spot price assessments (e.g. Fastmarkets, Platts, Asian Metal). Where no free public price exists, the platform explicitly marks the field as "Not Published" and provides a user-editable input box for proprietary contracts.
2. Clear Historical Conversion Footnotes: Historical conversions (such as annual USGS averages) are displayed with source year, conversion factor, and rounded precision. They are never represented as live transactional quotes.
3. Boundary Disclaimers: MiningBridge is an independent intelligence and analytical decision-support software. It does not provide legal opinions, Competent Person reports (JORC/NI 43-101), investment advice, or physical brokerage.