Introduction to 3TG Minerals
The 3TG, a group of raw materials, which include tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold, makes a big difference for the auto industry of our time to pass to electric vehicles (EV). These materials are of crucial importance for the construction of suspension systems, cabling, lighting, and electronic displays. Durable, corrosion-resistant, and identified for the implementation of electricity reasons.
Importance of 3TG Minerals
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has some of the largest interludes of such minerals in the world, and exploitation could be a source of prosperity for the country in Central Africa. However, current profits from the 3TG help to recharge batteries in the country, so that they are often referred to as "conflict minerals".
Conflict Minerals in Electric Vehicles
According to the new investigation research of DW and the Dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer, 3TG conflict minerals have most likely ended up in the electric vehicles of the largest car manufacturer in Europe, Volkswagen (VW). Based on VW’s own Responsible Raw Materials Report, DW found that at least six companies associated with conflict minerals by the DRC and the European Union are part of the German company’s supply chain.
Supply Chain of Volkswagen
The melting huts identified by DW include Tin Malaysia Smelting Corporation, Thailand’s Thaisarco, and Chinese Yunnan Tin Company, and for Tantal, the Ningxia Orient Tantalum industry from China. For gold, DW identified the gas subscription gold-plated manure in Rwanda and the African Gold Refinery in Uganda. Volkswagen is the only large European automobile manufacturer that gives an insight into the 3TG metals.
Dirty Supply Chains of Car Manufacturers
Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer, says that by 2030 at least 70% of the cars sold in Europe must be electric. This means more electronics, more wiring, more 3TG metals. There is DRC at the other end of the supply chain. But violence was shaken, especially in the resources east of the country to Rwanda. Minerals are smuggled from East-DRC to Rwanda, where they are mixed with local production and exported worldwide.
United Nations Experts
United Nations experts say that the rebel group M23, supported by Rwanda, earns around $800,000 from this trade per month. To uncover this system, DRC submitted criminal charges against Apple, an end-user of 3TG minerals, in a pioneering case in 2024. DRC accused the smartphone manufacturer of trade in conflict minerals. Apple denied the accusations.
Contaminated Supply Chain
DW found that four tin and tantalum jewelry, which were mentioned in the criminal complaint by DRC in Belgium, includes Malaysia Smelting Corporation, Thaisarco, Yunnan Tin Company, and Ningxia Orient Tantalum. The VW supply chain also includes gold from the gas subscription gold-plated manure in Rwanda and in African Gold Refinery in Uganda, which according to EU smuggled the gold.
Sanctioned by the EU
The former refinery was sanctioned by the EU in early 2025. "This means that the Volkswagen supply chain is contaminated with conflict gold and there is a great risk that it indirectly finances these conflicts," says Marc Hummel, a raw material researcher in the Swiss non-profit organization Swissaid.
A Stained Certification System
Companies that need 3TG use business initiatives to check their procurement guidelines on the responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI). Melting have checked their procedures from independent examination agencies. If everything is fine, you will receive a positive evaluation of the RMI. Volkswagen is also a member of RMI. In its code of conduct, VW says that its suppliers may only use raw materials from melting and refineries that can submit a relevant test.
EU Rules
The EU set rules for monitoring 3TG metals in 2021, but so far, they have not changed anything on site in the Congo. Only direct importers of the materials on the EU have to comply with new rules. If companies like Volkswagen often do not import the materials themselves, the rules do not apply directly to them. In Germany, the prevailing coalition of the conservative CDU/CSU block and the center-left-left-hand SPD, in her coalition agreement of 2025, to prevent "excessive regulations" for conflict minerals by the EU.
