When Golf Clubs Kill — Federal Rule Ineffective in Curbing Conflict Minerals - WhoWhatWhy

26.9.15

When Golf Clubs Kill — Federal Rule Ineffective in Curbing Conflict Minerals - WhoWhatWhy: The next time you purchase a phone or a Playstation, consider this: You may unwittingly be helping fund a civil war in Africa. If that bothers you and you wonder why this can occur, here’s the answer: Federal rules exist to prevent this — but they aren’t working.

Gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum — known as “conflict minerals” — can be found in cars, consumer electronics, clothes, golf clubs, wedding rings, and thousands of other articles Americans use every day. Because a portion of these minerals are mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and adjoining countries, a region in which a bloody civil war has been fought for many years, there is always a risk that purchasing them will indirectly pay for weapons and prolong the conflict.