Conflict-Free
Solutions
GAM has been a leader among tantalum producers to promote socially responsible and “conflict-free” supply chains.
GAM owns certain tantalum rights to the largest known ethical source of tantalum ore in Western Australia. Also GAM processes tantalum ore for the electronics, aerospace, automotive and other industries at its U.S. and Japan based facilities. In addition GAM has continuously sourced ethically produced, conflict-free tantalum raw material throughout the world for its smelting/processing operations.
Tin, tantalum, tungsten (the “3 T’s”) and gold are mined in various locations, but when mined in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations and other organizations have drawn clear links between the ongoing conflict, illicit trade of conflict minerals and human suffering in the DRC.
These valuable minerals can be mined and traded in conditions that don’t respect human rights, and smuggled to some smelters around the world for refinement. Eventually, these unethically sourced minerals make their way to the U.S. and all over the world in consumer products.
Responsible Supply
As a leading company in the tantalum industry, GAM is committed to ensuring that the tantalum under our control is responsibly and ethically sourced.
Over the past decades, quantities of tantalum (and other “conflict” minerals such as tin, tungsten and gold) have entered the global supply chain from locations, particularly the war-torn parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the ore has been mined illegally or without regard and commitment to health, safety, environment, labor conditions and human rights.
We have had a long-term commitment to working closely with various stakeholders, including the end-users of tantalum products, to put in place strategies that will ensure the responsible supply of tantalum material.
For this reason we are an active member of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and support its creation of a comprehensive set of tools and processes to enable the credible implementation of a Code of Conduct throughout supply chains. We adhere closely to the Conflict Minerals policies of the RMI and participate actively in the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP).
RMI Membership
We are an active member of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA).
The RMI is a group of companies working together to create a comprehensive set of tools and processes that will support and ensure the credible implementation of a Code of Conduct throughout the Electronics and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and other industry supply chains.
By consolidating and standardizing compliance, auditing and reporting efforts, tantalum suppliers can focus on achieving the highest standards of performance set out by the Code. This approach is also more conducive to fostering a culture of social responsibility throughout the global electronics supply chain.
We are committed to aligning our own operations with the provisions of the RBA Code of Conduct and to support and encourage our own first-tier suppliers to do the same.
Wherever possible, we will adopt the RMI approach and tools in practical ways and in the spirit of achieving the industry’s common goals.
In December 2010, GAM tantalum processing plants in the USA and Japan were the first, of any metal type, to be audited and declared “Conflict-Free” by the CFSP of the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative-CFSI (now known as the Responsible Minerals Initiative-RMI). In mid-2012, the first shipment of validated conflict-free tantalite ore mined from the Mai Baridi/Luba mine was processed at GAM’s Boyertown site.
The Solutions for Hope Project was a proof of concept. It gave evidence that supply chain participants can conjugate their efforts to enable market access to ethically sourced and traded tantalum material while complying with applicable regulations.
Solutions for Hope Project
In 2012 Global Advanced Metals joined the Solutions for Hope Project with components’ manufacturer AVX Corporation and leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as Motorola Solutions, Intel, RIM, Nokia and HP to source conflict-free tantalum material from the DRC.
This project was the first in any industry to validate a closed-pipe process for tantalum mining, trading and processing. It covered the full gamut of supply chain participants (i.e., miner/trader, processor, capacitors maker and manufacturers of end-users’ products) and ensured that tantalum minerals in effected products were conflict- free in accordance with the principles of Section 1502 of the US Dodd-Frank Act and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
This closed-pipe process focused on tantalum ore from the Mai Baridi/Luba mine in the Katanga province of the DRC. Mai Baridi/Luba used the ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative’s (iTSCi) “bag and tag” scheme, which subjects all tantalum ore set for export to a final-stage independent on-the-ground assessment. The material was mined and traded in adherence to the audit protocol of the Conflict-Free Smelter Program–CFSP (now knowns as the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process-RMAP).
