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An initiative to monitor tin mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure armed groups are not profiting from mining in the country has been launched by a partnership of miners, trading firms and buyers.
In a scheme that ‘will begin to track minerals and provide verifiable provenance information from individual mine sites in eastern DRC’ according to the international tin industry body ITRI, consumer electronics makers such as Apple, IBM and Sony, will work with local mining companies and merchants to prove their materials do not come from mines controlled by rebel groups or finance conflict.
The trade in tin ore and tantalum found in Congo helps finance rebel groups that have attacked civilians, according to the Unite Nations, while the pressure group Global Witness says the east of the country is dominated by ‘mafia-style extortion rackets’ in mining.
The latest move is an expansion of a pilot programme by ITRI to use information from partners to ‘provide verifiable provenance information’ about the sources of tin – $600,000 has been pledged, mainly from Western buyers, to fund the project.
Global Witness has been critical of the scheme, saying: ‘Any scheme that does not include on-the-ground investigation on a regular basis, looking at the routes the minerals take as well as the mines, is meaningless.’
Kay Nimmo, manager for regulatory affairs, however, defended the scheme’s reliance on internal information: ‘If we can find a way to collect information along the trading route we will, but spot checks are not practical. We’re not going to go off into the jungle and ask the army what they are doing.’
In a scheme that ‘will begin to track minerals and provide verifiable provenance information from individual mine sites in eastern DRC’ according to the international tin industry body ITRI, consumer electronics makers such as Apple, IBM and Sony, will work with local mining companies and merchants to prove their materials do not come from mines controlled by rebel groups or finance conflict.
The trade in tin ore and tantalum found in Congo helps finance rebel groups that have attacked civilians, according to the Unite Nations, while the pressure group Global Witness says the east of the country is dominated by ‘mafia-style extortion rackets’ in mining.
The latest move is an expansion of a pilot programme by ITRI to use information from partners to ‘provide verifiable provenance information’ about the sources of tin – $600,000 has been pledged, mainly from Western buyers, to fund the project.
Global Witness has been critical of the scheme, saying: ‘Any scheme that does not include on-the-ground investigation on a regular basis, looking at the routes the minerals take as well as the mines, is meaningless.’
Kay Nimmo, manager for regulatory affairs, however, defended the scheme’s reliance on internal information: ‘If we can find a way to collect information along the trading route we will, but spot checks are not practical. We’re not going to go off into the jungle and ask the army what they are doing.’
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