The Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in mineral resources, including Au, Ta, Sn and W (collectively known as 3TG), some of which are required by Wagon in its operations. However, mining comes at a cost, from isolated incidents of violence, to illegal mineral trading for profit, and even outrageous massacres and violations of human rights in related conflict zones.
Since 2014, we have further incorporated this conflict minerals requirement into our suppliers’ social responsibility check, and it is specified in the supplier social responsibility management procedure. Moreover, we have carried out spot checks on related metal smelteries, on an irregular basis, to confirm the metal sources. In the future, we will conduct conflict minerals checks on related smelteries for more rigorous and cautious control.
We have screened our primary suppliers of 3TG metals through our own Metal Mine Source Questionnaire. The response rate has been as high as 92.54% and the results indicate that the smelteries in our supply chain are mainly in China, Japan, the U.S., Indonesia and other non-conflict countries. Through this process, we have reinforced our commitment to the non-use of conflict minerals
Wagon has not only monitored its supply chain to forbid the use of metals from conflict zones, but has also supported checks and verifications of minerals from conflict zones in the hope of truly realizing a universal non-use of conflict minerals.
A Supervision and Management Undertaking on Death Tin Mine, Bangka Island, Indonesia
An investigative report by environmental protection organization Friends of the Earth (FoE) indicates that tin mining in Bangka Island, Indonesia, is in violation of human rights and has a devastating impact on the environment. In response to this universal environmental protection concern, we have initiated investigations into the primary supply chain and found that there is no direct use of tin ores from Bangka Island, Indonesia; some indirect use exists, however.
To fulfill the supply chain management responsibility, we require our suppliers to sign the Warranty Declaration, guaranteeing no violation of workers’ human rights, no use of child labor and no environment-damaging mine source. By signing, they also undertake to assist in handling the devastating impact of mineral mining on the environment and to collaborate in safeguarding the sustainable development of the environment.