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HRW, Tiffany and the Ethical Cost of Jewellery
I worked my way through the Human Rights Watch report this afternoon: “The Hidden Cost of Jewellery Human Rights in Supply Chains and the Responsibility of Jewelry Companies.” The following article is intended as a response to the report’s findings. By way of background, I’ve spent the past 12 years photographing artisinal and small scale mines around […]
Blockchain: The Path to a More Transparent Mining Supply Chain?
This article first appeared on Mining Technology Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records logged in a decentralised, immutable, cryptographically secured online ledger. All information recorded on the platform is peer-to-peer validated and therefore can’t be corrupted without others quickly becoming aware. One of the main benefits of blockchain – a process developed more […]
From Kolwezi To iPhones: The Cobalt Supply Chain
On the 30th September 2016, The Washington Post published an extremely indepth and informative article on the horrors of the cobalt supply chain in the DRC. We have seen recent breakthroughs in understanding the conflict mineral supply chain, with Amnesty International publishing the first report “This is what we die for” (6 January 2016). The […]
Conflict Mineral Supply Chain Analysis
Overview An American multinational technology company headquartered in California currently procures 5% of the cobalt market as an indirect buyer from battery manufacturers in China. The company is embarking on a strategy where, if successful, would see them increasing their requirements to 20% of the cobalt market. They therefore needed a suitable supplier in the DRC […]
Conflict Minerals: Responsibility falls to the Ultimate End Users
The concept of conflict minerals is becoming increasingly topical. In particular, as cobalt scarcity increases, a closer eye is being kept on the cobalt supply chain and cobalt originating from the DRC’s artisinal miners. On the 19th of January, Amnesty International and Afterwatch broke the news of child labour being used in Huayou Cobalt and […]