Apple buys Russian gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin to produce its iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, and accessories, as follows from the published report of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The list of factories supplying the gadget giant includes Novosibirsk Refinery Plant, Ekaterinburg Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Plant, OAO “Uralelectromed” of the Sverdlovsk region, Moscow Special Alloys Processing Plant, Krastsvetmet in Krasnoyarsk, Shchelkovsky Secondary Precious Metals Processing Plant, Kolyma Refinery, and Prioksky Non-Ferrous Metals Plant. These steelmakers can proudly say that they contributed to the manufacturing of the world’s most popular telecommunications products.
For context, the SEC adopted a rule that requires companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that include tantalum, tin, gold, or tungsten from war-torn regions since sales of these minerals could help fund arms for militias, ultimately leading to human rights abuses.
In addition to Russian metals, Apple uses Russian technologies and components. For example, Apple picked Russia's Glonass navigation system to run alongside GPS in its iPhone 4S models that hit stores in 2011.
Moreover, Appleinsider.ru said in 2012 that Apple ordered “a large number of panels for their displays” from Monokristal factory in Stavropol citing “a source close to one of the factory workers”. Monokristal manufactures synthetic sapphire, including sapphire plates. Apple refused to comment on the matter.
