Conflict Minerals
February 5, 2015 | Written by GreenSoft Technology, Inc.
Newsweek article: Where Apple Gets the Tantalum for Your iPhone
February 05, 2015｜Written by GreenSoft Technology, Inc.
Newsweek ran an in-depth article yesterday on the source of Tantalum in cellular phones and devices. The article describes the struggle with sourcing conflict minerals that our customers are all too familiar with.
Where Apple Gets the Tantalum for Your iPhone puts Apple in the forefront of the conflict minerals discussion, citing Apple's disclosure of every smelter in its supply chain in February 2014, a first of its kind level of disclosure from a manufacturer this large.
The article also brings up an alarming concern that the Global Witness organization reported on: "much of the tin, tantalum and tungsten [...] are smuggled out of Congo into Rwanda and Burundi for export. Tin and tantalum smuggled into Rwanda is laundered through the country's domestic tagging system and exported as 'clean' Rwandan material."
As we know, tracing 3TG minerals back to their original mine source is incredibly difficult. As Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said in 2010, as quoted in the Newsweek article: "Until someone invents a way to chemically trace minerals from the source mine, it's a very difficult problem."
Read the full article online.