Congo files lawsuit against Apple over use of critical minerals from conflict zones

The Congolese government has filed criminal complaints against Apple Inc.’s French and Belgian subsidiaries, accusing the tech giant of using minerals from conflict zones in its supply chain, lawyers for the government told Reuters.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a major source of tin, tantalum and tungsten, the so-called 3T minerals used in computers and mobile phones, but some mines are run by armed groups that have been implicated in civilian massacres, mass rapes, looting and other crimes, according to UN experts and human rights groups.

Apple does not source its primary minerals directly, and the company says it vets suppliers, publishes the results and funds bodies seeking to improve traceability of minerals, according to Reuters report.

Apple’s 2023 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Conflict Mining Minerals states that none of the 3T or gold smelters or refineries in its supply chain funded or benefited armed groups in the Congo or neighboring countries.

However, international lawyers representing the Republic of Congo allege that Apple uses minerals looted from the Republic of Congo and processed as legitimate through international supply chains, making the company complicit in crimes in the Congo, the Reuters report said.

The term “3T minerals” specifically refers to three naturally occurring minerals:

1-Tin (Sn), which is found primarily in the mineral cassiterite (SnO2).

2-Tantalum (Ta), which is obtained primarily from columbite-tantalite, commonly known as coltan.

3-Tungsten (W), which is extracted from wolframite and scheelite.

All of these minerals occur naturally, meaning they are formed through terrestrial processes within the Earth’s crust.

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