Explainer

Getting “Conflict Minerals” Out of Our Products

While “blood diamonds” get attention, mining of metals like tin and tungsten helps finance civil wars. Here’s a look at the movement to change that.

by Tristan Roberts

In this all-too-common scenario, do the customers know what’s going on behind the scenes? Increasingly, yes, and they are moving to source their metals responsibly.

A “conflict resource” is any natural resource extracted in a conflict zone and sold to finance the fighting. The 2006 thriller “Blood Diamond” dramatized the role of diamonds mined in Sierra Leone under such conditions.

Published April 20, 2015

Roberts, T. (2015, April 20). Getting “Conflict Minerals” Out of Our Products. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/primer/getting-conflict-minerals-out-our-products

Volume 24, Issue 5

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