Conflict Minerals

Conflict minerals are minerals mined in conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses, notably in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by the Congolese National Army, and various armed rebel groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a proxy Rwandan militia group. The looting of the Congo's natural resources is not limited to domestic actors; during the Congo Wars, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi particularly profited from the Congo's resources. These governments have continued to smuggle resources out of the Congo to this day. The profits from the sale of these minerals finance continued fighting in the Second Congo War, and control of lucrative mines becomes a focus of the fighting as well.[1] The most commonly mined minerals are casSitiorite, wolframite, coltan, and gold, which are extracted from the Eastern Congo, and passed through a variety of intermediaries before being purchased by multinational electronics companies.(From Wikipedia)

Conflict minerals are applicated by the armed groups and units in Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa to financed to buy guns or support their compaigns. The minerals are have no emotion. They were given emotion value when they were fighted for. Commenly, the more intense fighting, the higher the value.

The fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo has continued over 15 years,driven by the illegal trade in valueable minerals.

In the Congo there are four main types of minerals being explored, which are shorted into 3TG:

*CasSitiorite——Tin ore——Tin;

*Coltan——The ore containing a rare metal called tantalum——Tantalum;

*Wolframe——The ore for tungsten——Tungsten;

*Gold ore——Gold;

Tungsten are applicated in many fields.The electronics community consumes vast amount of conflist metals, such as like tin or tantalum, which is a basic ingredient in circuit boards and electronic assemblies.