Letters
The United States has enacted legislation known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This legislation seeks, in part, to reduce the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by limiting or eliminating sources of income for armed groups.
As part of this legislation, publicly-traded US companies are required to report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whether they, or their suppliers, manufacture or use certain minerals called “conflict minerals.” These “conflict minerals” include columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassierite, gold and wolframite or their derivatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its adjoining countries.
