ST. ALBANS, HERTFORDSHIRE, UK -- The ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative has rolled out new software for capturing data for the purposes of tracking raw minerals ultimately used in electronics manufacturing. The new tool is designed to help track minerals as part of iTSCi's due diligence program.

The software replaces paper-based data collection and will used by government agents in mining countries for data recording for the first time, iTSCi said in a press release today. More than 25,000 transactions are manually entered into the database each week, iTSCi said.

The program tracks tin, tantalum and tungsten (collectively, the 3T’s) production from the mine through final processing into solder. It has been adopted by the governments of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is used at over 850 mine sites in those regions.

The program, which was designed by Helveta UK, will permit the supply chain to manage the mine sources of their mineral purchases. It is now in use in Rwanda and will be rolled out more widely as financing allows, iTRSI said.

Said Dr. Michael Biryabarema, “The Rwandan Government is always keen to improve data on our mineral sector which is an important growth area for the country. We appreciate the information that has been generated through our cooperation with iTSCi so far and look forward to the further benefits and improvements that this solution will bring.”