Background

In September 2012, a number of “smelter-level” tungsten producers met in Beijing on the margins of the International Tungsten Industry Association Annual Meeting to discuss possible tungsten-specific approaches to meeting customer and statutory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act provisions for conflict minerals.

Subsequently, a working group of representatives from ATI, Global Tungsten & Powders/Plansee Group/Ceratizit, H.C. Starck, Kennametal and Wolfram Bergbau & Hütten/Sandvik, in conjunction with the Metal Powder Industries Federation’s Refractory Metals Association (RMA) and the International Tungsten Industry Association (ITIA), met and crafted the Tungsten Industry—Conflict Minerals Council (TI-CMC) to address the above mentioned needs.

The Council’s program is endorsed by RMA and ITIA. The basis for the TI-CMC can be found in the Tungsten Industry—Conflict Minerals Commitment, a framework through which its members can provide industry stakeholders, downstream tungsten consumers with conflict minerals reporting and disclosure obligations, as well as the public at large with their assurances that the tungsten products they supply are conflict free. Currently, the Council is also in active contact with various Asian tungsten companies and associations.

TI-CMC currently represent the majority of global tungsten smelters and a number of supporter members all agreeing to abide by our commitment document.

TI-CMC Board of Directors

TI-CMC Operating Guidelines

Mission Statement

Establish a Commitment Program for the Tungsten Industry that provides a mechanism for industry members to demonstrate their compliance with the requirements of domestic and international conflict minerals regulations.

TI-CMC also provides a method for facilitating compliance with reasonable country of origin inquiries within the tungsten industry while protecting confidential, sensitive, and proprietary information relating to members' supply chains.

A Statement on the Unintended Consquences Related to Section 1502 of the Frank-Dodd Act

Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI)

A unified approach has been developed between the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and the Tungsten Industry Conflict Minerals Council (TI-CMC) making it easier for companies to source conflict-free tungsten. Through the joint development of a specialized framework, members of the TI-CMC may now choose to become validated as Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) conflict-free tungsten smelters under the RMI's Conflict-Free Smelter Program (RMAP).

This unified approach to addressing conflict mineral issues via this collaboration is an efficient and practical way for tungsten smelters to provide confidence to their customers that their sourcing practices do not directly or indirectly finance or benefit illegal armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries.