KEMET has assured and guaranteed its customers that all its tantalum capacitors will be produced from conflict-free tantalum raw materials. This assurance is supported by the recent acquisition of the tantalum capacitor powder production plant from Denham Capital in Carson City, Nevada, U.S.
The acquired facility is renamed as KEMET Blue Powder Corporation (KBP) and is compliant with the EICC/ GeSi Conflict Free Smelter (CFS) Program specifications. In 2012, the plant has been audited by a third-party authorized by EICC/GeSi and is found to meet all requirements of the CFS site. Through this purchase, KEMET has decided to immediately start sourcing raw materials only from CFS-compliant suppliers and cease partnerships with non-CFS compliant material suppliers.
In addition, the purchase has offered exclusive rights to obtain raw materials from Tantalite Resources in South Africa. Tantalite Resources will process conflict-free tantalum ore that is derived from the KEMET’s associated mine located in Kisengo, Katanga Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company will not use raw material from Tantalite Resources until it passes a third-party audit and other CFS compliance requirements. KEMET provides assurance that all raw materials sourced from KBP will be conflict-free.
KEMET anticipates that its tantalum supply chain network will meet the specifications of Dodd-Frank’s section 1502 and it waits for the issue of this law from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: http://www.kemet.com/