Supply-chain disclosures by Tesla, Amazon and Volkswagen have identified sanctioned gold refineries in Uganda and Rwanda among facilities that may have processed minerals used somewhere within their supplier networks.
The findings come from an analysis by the Financial Times, which examined the latest conflict-mineral and supply-chain disclosures of companies in the United States and elsewhere.
More than 160 American companies and at least ten foreign businesses reportedly named one or more of four gold refineries under US, British or European sanctions.
The companies included Tesla, Amazon, Volkswagen and Nokia. The African facilities identified were African Gold Refinery in Uganda and Gasabo Gold Refinery in Rwanda.
However, their appearance in the disclosures does not prove that any of the companies purchased gold from either refinery, directly or indirectly.
