Section 1502 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act is an effort by the U.S. Congress to reduce extreme violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by bringing transparency to its financing. Organized violence in the area is largely financed by the mining and selling of specific minerals in the DRC and surrounding countries. These "conflict minerals" are defined as cassiterite, cobalt, columbite-tantalite, gold, wolframite, and their derivatives (tantalum, tin, and tungsten). It is believed that more transparent information about the source of conflict minerals used during manufacturing processes will reduce funding for violence in the DRC.

Although Opto 22 is a privately held company and therefore not required under the law to report on conflict minerals, we fully support Congress's efforts to eliminate the financing of extreme violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Opto 22 does not purchase cobalt or 3T&G (tin, tantalum, tungsten & gold) directly. Therefore Opto 22 has adopted a Supplier Code of Conduct that requires our suppliers to commit to a conflict-free supply chain.

For more information, please see:
Mark Engman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Opto 22