June 10, 2026
The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) remains deeply concerned about the security and human rights situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We are also aware that market dynamics and significant production from Rubaya, along with global recognition of the illegality of these minerals, create serious incentives to work outside of or to subvert formal trade systems, and thus significant vigilance remains crucial.
Given these added risks, the RMI has implemented extensive program-level actions over the past three years, including additional guidance to smelters and assessors, customized training, enhanced quality assurance, and more. Please see the annex to this statement for the comprehensive actions taken by the RMI.
The RMI further values the crucial role of civil society organizations in identifying potential risks and raising concerns about illicit trade, and have consistently encouraged NGO vigilance and information sharing, including through the RMI’s public calls for stakeholders to submit evidence of conflict financing risks.
The RMI directly engaged Global Witness over the past several months and requested detailed, actionable data. Through extensive bilateral discussions, we have explained to Global Witness that the methodology used in their recent report relies on isolated trade or shipping data points, which, due to well-known limitations, cannot reliably indicate the origin of material, timelines of extraction, or the conditions under which it was produced, nor does it account for timelines of transport, customs, or potential stockage and warehousing.
The RMI’s assessments are based on consistent, detailed, independent review of multiple factors of due diligence and supply chain data points, including hundreds or thousands of transactions depending on the facility, spanning the chain of custody from mines to the assessed smelters. We continue to follow up on allegations that may relate to a forthcoming assessment cycle or new information.
The RMI can envision a role for supplementing our work with more in-depth consideration of broader trade data and trends, which has been suggested by other experts, and we have begun internal and external discussions to consider credible methodologies. However, we find that Global Witness’s conclusions are not supported by their methodology, level of detail, and lack constructive contribution to existing reporting or future solutions.
The RMI shares the concern and commitment to responsible sourcing, as well as the sense of urgency to address coltan risks expressed by civil society, responsible businesses, and governments. We will take all steps available to us to leverage our assessments, complaints mechanism, and other information to continue proactive monitoring, implementing risk-responsive actions, and continuous improvement of our programs.
We welcome continued dialogue grounded in transparency, evidence, and a shared commitment to responsible supply chains.
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