H.C. Starck Receives Third EICC Certificate for its "Conflict-free" Tantalum Supply Chain

MUNICH, Germany, July 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

H.C. Starck, a leading manufacturer of technology metals and advanced ceramics, announced today that its tantalum supply chain has been declared free of "conflict minerals" for a third consecutive year following an independent audit. The audit was conducted by a third party auditor assigned by the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) as part of the Conflict-Free Smelter (CFS) Validation Program.

"We are very pleased about this recertification," said Andreas Meier, President and CEO of H.C. Starck. "It is an award for our raw materials strategy and an incentive to continue our sustainability commitment." All of H.C. Starck's tantalum processing plants in the United States, Germany, Japan, and in Thailand were audited by the EICC and GeSI in the beginning of 2013 and were found to meet the high CFS site requirements. To be declared conflict-free, H.C. Starck had to prove that it has documented a conflict minerals policy which is integrated into business operations; deploys a system for tracing finished goods back to its mine of origin, and documents that all of its purchased materials are from conflict-free sources.

"A secure, long-term supply of conflict-free raw materials is a strategic core topic for our company and also benefits our customers," continued Meier. The raw material supply of H.C. Starck rests on two strong pillars: cooperation with established and certified mines as well as increasing recycling activities of technology metals. "Technology metal recycling is a distinctive competence of H.C. Starck," said Meier. "It helps us to accomplish supply security and it reduces our dependency from volatile raw material pricing."

A full version of the press release is available at http://www.hcstarck.com/press.

Contact:

Ulrike Reich
Director Corporate Communications
+49-89-500-942-155

SOURCE H.C. Starck GmbH