Responsible Minerals in Focus at OECD Forum
The importance of responsible mineral supply chains was again the focus of discussion at this annual forum, which has run since 2010. ASI is the only standards system implementing the OECD Due Diligence Guidance specifically for the aluminium value chain.
12 May 2025
The importance of responsible mineral supply chains was again the focus of discussion at this annual forum, which has run since 2010. Stemming from the development of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance – today a part of the ASI Performance Standard V3 – the event convenes governments, industry and civil society stakeholders to discuss risks, opportunities and progress.
Key themes on the policy side included:
- security of supply for critical minerals
- enhancing domestic processing in mineral-producing countries
- de-risking investment by leveraging ESG principles
- protecting Indigenous rights and interests, including the role of standards like ASI.
The original OECD Guidance focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Great Lakes Region and supply chains of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold. Today the Guidance is deemed to apply to all minerals/metals and regions and has been included in the London Metal Exchange (LME) responsible sourcing requirements, and thus applicable to LME listed aluminium brands. ASI supports implementation as a ‘Track A’ standard for LME.
Fifteen years of supply chain due diligence has shown progress on identifying risks and a developing private sector capacity for this work. Participants acknowledged the challenges of influencing upstream supply chain risks from very far downstream. Due diligence concepts are also increasingly integrated with the dynamics of international trade, and of course impacted by evolving geopolitics. This remains an important, and complex, space for seeking insights and communicating expectations about supply chain performance. ASI is the only standards system implementing the OECD Due Diligence Guidance specifically for the aluminium value chain.
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