Conflict Minerals Trade from the Democratic Republic of the Congo: What does the US have to gain?

Colonel Emma K. Coulson, a military fellow researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, says: “It benefits the US to partner with the DRC in settling their conflict and gain positive control of their natural resources,”  in her paper “Impact of gender based violence on stability and security.” She argues that: “The US is the largest consumer of coltan, which it uses to produce electronic products and high-end electronics critical to defense weapons systems.  The DRC possesses 80 percent of coltan reserves-guaranteeing a role for the DRC in the international mineral trade as consumption increases.  This is considering when the US begins to strategically evaluate where its vulnerabilities lie in procuring critical minerals for tomorrow’s defense technology.”

Download PDF or In depth Conflict Mineral-1 file of the “In-depth: US Conflict Mineral Law Frequently Asked Questions.”  Also watch  the Roundtable on Conflict Minerals organized by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission onTuesday, October 18, 2011.  
Read the Multi-Stakeholder’s Post-Round Table Comments Regarding File Number S7-40-10 on Conflict Minerals and the Congolese Bishops Conference’s letter to SEC ‘s chair. Also, read “Rwanda gives DR Congo back tonnes of smuggled minerals” by BBC News.  By Ntama Bahati