Tracing tin from the DRC

Enviromine

Publishing Date: 04 May 2010 1:00pm GMT
Author: Mining Environmental Management

Sustainability

ITRI, the tin industry body, has initiated the second phase of a comprehensive due-diligence plan for tin minerals exported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The latest phase of the ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative (iTSCi) represents the first field trial designed to address concerns over conflict minerals from the region.

The pilot project will track minerals and provide verifiable provenance information for individual sites.
A number of firms, including those in the tin trading and smelting sector, the tantalum industry and downstream users of both tin and tantalum metal, are participating in the trial.

If successful after six months, the trial will be expanded across four provinces of the DRC – North and South Kivu, Maniema and Katanga.

A third phase of the project would include the development of more detailed social and environmental performance standards and ratings and would be implemented in 2010 or 2011.