Wolfram is a high value mineral from which tungsten carbide (a wear-resistant material used in metalworking, mining, petroleum, military construction, and jewelry industries) is made. Tungsten is also used in light bulb and vacuum tube filaments, as well as electrodes.

Coltan is a crucial raw material in the manufacturing of critical components of electronic equipment such as radios, television sets, computers, jet engines, missiles, ships, weapons, and cellular phones.

It may not be as well known as gold or diamonds, but experts say that without Coltan, the digital economy would grind to a complete halt. Luckily for Rwanda, Coltan is a mineral it has in plenty, and the earlier the banks recognize this significance, the better in redeeming its potential.

The high demand for Coltan by the manufacturing sector in developed and industrialized countries means that there is minimum risk to any commercial bank that choose to finance projects related to it. Also in demand is Wolfram, a mineral that, if supported, has the potential to fetch the country large sums of foreign exchange.

Between January and June 2013, the country exported about 1,000 tons of the mineral, earning $14.4 million. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the major producers of Wolfram in Africa.


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Question: When is a conflict mineral not officially a conflict mineral?

Answer: When it's not a diamond and is from somewhere other than central Africa.

Yet diamonds and African minerals are not the only resources in the world used to finance mayhem. As Bloomberg Markets magazine reports, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) funds its insurgency against Colombia's elected government in part with revenue from tungsten. This rare metal has entered the supply chain of parts used to make cars and electronics worldwide.

Companies such as Apple and BMW have pledged to investigate. Beyond that, a new regulatory regime to block this trade — and that of many other conflict minerals that don't fall under existing compacts — is needed. Even in its absence, companies that use such materials in their products would be wise to become more vigilant about the problem.

Two regulations cover conflict minerals. Buying conflict diamonds is barred by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, agreed to in 2003 by the major diamond-trading countries and the gem industry. And the Dodd-Frank Act requires U.S. companies whose products contain gold, tantalum, tin or tungsten from the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring states to disclose their efforts to trace the minerals' provenance.

The United States presumably could expand the Dodd-Frank provision to cover minerals outside central Africa. A proposal to do essentially the same thing is now before the European Union. Unfortunately, there is little political support in these Western countries for establishing new rules.

Businesses resist such measures. Three American business groups challenged (unsuccessfully) the limited U.S. law in court. Instead of fighting, car and electronics makers would be wise to follow the example of the diamond industry and scrutinize their supply chains — if only to protect their profits. After all, consumers and shareholders increasingly demand that companies use only materials produced without labor and human-rights abuses, and whose profits do not fuel warfare.

Consumers want cheap prices, but not unconditionally. After recent fires and accidents at apparel factories in Bangladesh, for instance, retailers, under pressure from protesters, agreed to improve factory conditions there.

Shareholders, for their part, know that reputation affects revenue. For example, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Pension Plan has filed proposals with Caterpillar, Halliburton and McDonald's asking for reports on business risks arising from labor and human rights abuses in company operations. ...

In other words, a conflict mineral is a conflict mineral. And it's bad for business.


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Inadequate funding is limiting the potential of the mining industry to become Rwanda's major export earner and source of much-needed foreign currency.

Over the years, there have been persistent calls for funding from commercial banks, but local lenders, who have yet to warm up to the sector that keeps growing against odds, have largely ignored these calls.

Francois Kanimba, the Minister of Trade and Industry, sounds rather perturbed that the banking sector remains reluctant to extend credit to the mining sector, despite its major potential role in creating new jobs and reducing Rwanda's dependency on traditional agricultural exports such as tea, coffee and pyrethrum.

"The mining industry is complaining that banks are reluctant when it comes to financing their activities. I want to call upon commercial banks to look into this and help this sector grow," Kanimba said.

Kanimba was reacting to the presentation of the Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statement for the first half of 2013, presented last Tuesday by BNR Governor, John Rwangombwa.

The report indeed highlighted the growth potential of the mining sector and its benefits to the Rwandan economy.

According to figures, the cash-constrained sector exported about 4,500 tons of minerals between January and June this year, earning the country an estimated $114.8 million in foreign exchange.

This represented a 77.7% increase in value and 23.8% increase in volume compared to the same period of the previous year. Coltan and Wolfram performed particularly well, with export volumes growing by 191% and 28% respectively.


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The ExOne Company, a global provider of three-dimensional printing machines and printed products to industrial customers and rapid prototype + manufacturing, jointly announced today a collaboration that has added bonded tungsten to ExOne’s portfolio of 3D printing material.      

ExOne and rp+m worked collaboratively to develop the application of bonded tungsten in the design of rp+m’s products to be used in protecting people and their environments from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. The 3D printed products provide solutions that reduce development time and costs traditionally associated with fabrication and tooling, as well as production lead-time. rp+m and its partner, Radiation Protection Technologies, target bundled solutions for lead(Pb) replacement for the medical imaging and aerospace markets. rp+m has ordered an M-Flex machine to develop solutions in bonded tungsten, which replaces lead(Pb), with a Restriction of Use of Hazardous Substances compliant solution.

Rick Lucas, ExOne’s chief technology officer, comments, “3D printed bonded tungsten is a great solution for radiation shielding because the M-Flex can create complex shapes for these applications that would be difficult to create with conventional methods of manufacturing. Our collaboration with rp+m demonstrates the power of ExOne’s strategy in engaging customers in the early stages of the materials development process, yielding direct applications in new markets.”

Matt Hlavin, CEO of rp+m noted, “We believe ExOne’s M-Flex machine is unique because of its ability to use multiple types of material and the machine’s fast print speeds. The ExOne team is clearly committed to forming strategic relationships with innovators, such as rp+m, to drive their 3D technology to new frontiers. rp+m will continue to work with ExOne to develop other materials and applications for the M-Flex machine.”  

ExOne’s Material Applications Laboratory (ExMAL) continues to have other materials under various stages of development. ExOne has been focused on 3D printing for industrial customers since 2005.


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