Background

Tin, Tungsten, Tantalum, Gold and Cobalt are essential ingredients in the manufacture of semiconductors. The mining of these minerals is associated with human rights abuses. Five broad trends are currently impacting the sourcing, processing and demand of these minerals:

• Mineral mining continues to shift to central Africa. 70% of Cobalt originates from the DRC. 
• Smelting and refining (SOR) capacity continues to shift to Asia. 90% of Cobalt is refined by Chinese owned SORs.
• Governance over mineral traceability is outdated.
• Companies’ efforts to identify and trace the provenance of minerals has stalled, as demand rises.
• Demands for a greener future necessitates more semiconductors and therefore more mineral mining.

Stewart Investors collaborative engagement

In 2021, Stewart Investors launched the PRI collaborative engagement, Tackling conflict mineral content in the semiconductor supply chain. 

Initial steps included engaging with companies and industry bodies to encourage better mineral sourcing, tracking and reporting practices. This, coupled with commissioned research, revealed the extent of the problem.

Since launch, over 160 signatories amounting to US$6.59trillion of assets have shown support for the initiative, with a number of large financial institutions also registering interest.

Over the course of 2022, Stewart Investors developed a strong relationship with the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), and strengthened ties with leading US electronics companies who are also steering committee members of the RMI.  

In early 2024 Stewart Investors became the first official member of the RMI Investor Network, and invite PRI signatories to join the initiative:  RMI Investor Network | PRI (unpri.org).

For more information, and to support the collaborative engagement please reach out to chris.mcgoldrick@stewartinvestors.com and alexia.zavos@stewartinvestors.com.