NDAA Interim Rule Prohibits Sourcing Tantalum From Non-Allied Nations

WELLESLEY, Mass., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Advanced Metals Pty Ltd (GAM), a world leader in the socially responsible production of tantalum, recognizes the importance of the latest action from the U.S. government to encourage secure and sustainable production of tantalum from trusted producers. On September 29, the U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD") issued an interim rule that will require DoD contractors to cease supplying tantalum originally sourced in various forms from adversarial foreign suppliers in a specified list of nations. 

GAM's operations — from mine to finished product — are fully compliant under DoD's new rule (DFARS 225.7018) that restricts the department from purchasing tantalum oxides, metals, and alloys which were derived at nearly any point in the supply chain from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. The rule formally implements a national security measure, signed into law last year, designed to limit DoD's exposure to non-allied sources for tantalum. Prized for its unique properties and uses in key defense technologies, tantalum is a designated critical mineral whose absence "would have significant consequences for the economy or national security," reported the Department of Interior in 2018.

"As the world's leading vertically integrated tantalum producer, we stand ready to deliver high performance and DFARS-compliant tantalum products to our customers," said Steve Krause, President of GAM Technology. "Now, more than ever, U.S. Department of Defense suppliers need dependable partners with reliable critical material supply chains, and GAM is capable of meeting their tantalum powder, chips, ingot, rod, plate or sheet enabling them to conform to this requirement."

DFARS 225.7018 implements section 849 of the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA") for Fiscal Year 2020. Section 849 of the NDAA added tantalum to an existing statute (10 U.S.C. §2533c) that lists critical materials DoD cannot source (with few exceptions) from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. 

About Global Advanced Metals (GAM) 

A leading conflict-free tantalum producer fully compliant with DFARS 225.7018 and 10 U.S.C. §2533c, GAM has exclusive rights to the world's largest industrial resources of tantalum ore located in Western Australia. GAM produces conflict-free tantalum powders and metallurgical products at its Pennsylvania, USA, and Aizu, Japan plants for a range of industries including electronics, aerospace, automotive, medical, and chemical processing. GAM's processing facilities in Japan and the USA were first declared "Conflict-Free" in 2010 under the former EICC/GeSI Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) audit program and continue to maintain their conformance status under the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI). Further information regarding GAM is available at www.globaladvancedmetals.com

Media Contact
Kurt Habecker
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KHabecker@globaladvancedmetals.com

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SOURCE Global Advanced Metals