Munich, Germany — H.C. Starck has inked a deal with AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V.’s subsidiary, CIF Mineracao S.A. to purchase the vast majority of tantalum and niobium concentrates from AMG’s Brazilian MIBRA mine over the next two years. H.C. Starck says this mine is one of the largest industrial tantalum mines in the world.
“Thanks to this agreement, we have secured a continuous supply of conflict-free tantalum raw materials for our company,” said Dr. Andreas Meier, president & CEO, H.C. Starck Group, in a statement. The mine was audited by H.C. Starck using its Responsible Supply Chain Management System (RSCM) to ensure that the deliveries from the mine meet the company’s standards for raw materials supply.
H.C. Starck also entered into a number of supply agreements with other established mines during the past few months,. The company said “it remains completely independent of suppliers from conflict regions over the long-term as well.”
In April, the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) certified H.C. Starck’s tantalum supply chain free of conflict materials.
The company is also working on alternative measures to ensure a supply of raw materials such as increasing the amount of secondary raw materials it recycles.