United Precious Metal Refining has been certified by Extractives and Conflict Minerals Resources (EICC) as a conflict-free gold smelter (CFS).
According to the company, it is one of a limited number worldwide to earn this certification.
“[We] are committed to using only ‘conflict-free’ metals in our operations and have pledged that our metal is obtained from sources that adhere to acceptable human rights and labour practices,” the company said in a news release.
“[We] take our corporate responsibilities very seriously and have always maintained a policy against accepting metal from questionable sources. [We] will continue to implement this practice under the stringent guidelines and regulations of our new CFS certification.”
The company says it encourages its refining customers to have procedures in place to ensure compliance with current conflict-free guidelines.
To achieve CFS certification, companies must submit to a third-party evaluation of its procurement activities; smelters must demonstrate all the materials they process originate from conflict-free sources.
