Conflict Minerals: Where Apple Gets the Tantalum for Your iPhone

Feb 4, 2015 | Lynnley Browning, Newsweek
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Nobody likes to think his or her iPhone was made from minerals derived from a country where warlords and mass rapists profit from the mines. So a year ago, Apple made a bold claim: It had audited smelters in its supply chain and none of them used tantalum from war-torn regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).While Apple acknowledged that it could not make the same claim for gold, tin and tungsten—three other important commodities essential to modern electronics but mined in war zones—the announcement about tantalum was an important step for human rights advocates who have long called for more transparency from international companies.