The violent conflict in eastern Congo is being facilitated by a trade in conflict minerals that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Armed groups mine and sell the minerals on the international market in order to purchase arms and maintain their control over the region. Tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold—the minerals specified in the SEC’s rules—are critical to industrial and technological products worldwide, including mobile telephones, laptop computers, aircraft, industrial machinery, and digital video recorders.
The purpose of Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is to address “the exploitation and trade of conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [which is] helping to finance conflict characterized by extreme levels of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.”