RMI Member Funding

ASSESSMENT FUND FOR RMAP PARTICIPATING SMELTERS AND REFINERS 

As of October 2024, the Assessment Fund threshold is in place until the Assessment Fund is replenished. The Assessment Fund coverage will be reserved for tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG) assessments. Non-3TG assessments will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

The Assessment Fund is designed to encourage RMAP-eligible smelters and refiners (SORs) to undergo an independent third-party assessment. The Assessment Fund offers SORs an incentive for participating in the RMAP by fully paying for the costs of their initial assessment and supporting needs-based re-assessments.

RMI member companies that voluntarily provide financial support to the Assessment Fund are cost-sharing the financial costs of upstream due diligence with their supply chain partners.

Our thanks to the following members who have contributed to the fund since 2013:

3M	AIAG	Amazon	Apple*	Baxter Healthcare	BD
Becton Dickinson	Best Buy	Cisco	Dell	EMC	Ford
General Motors	Google	Hewlett-Packard*	Honda	Hewlett Packard Enterprise	IBM
Intel Corporation*	ITW	JEITA	Juniper	Lenovo	LGE
Lockheed Martin	Microsoft*	Nokia	NXP Semiconductor	onsemi	Qualcomm
Raytheon	Sony	Tenneco	Tesla	Texas Instruments	TTI
Volvo

Founding companies are labeled with an asterisk (*)

Eligibility

To be eligible for use of the funds, SORs must first meet the RMAP eligibility requirements. Once determined to be eligible for the assessment, the SOR must not have undergone a previous RMAP assessment, must have demonstrated its commitment to participating in the RMAP by signing the Agreement for Exchange of Confidential Information and Auditee Participation, and must have submitted the Pre-Assessment Checklist and Line Item Summary to RMI staff in a timely manner. The Fund can be applied to multiple facilities under a single SOR so long as it is each facility’s first assessment. Furthermore, to encourage RMAP participation among as many companies as possible, each SOR is only eligible for one incentive for each metal for which it is undergoing the assessment.

The Assessment Fund also supports the cost of re-assessment for SORs that are already participating (active or conformant) in the RMAP for which the cost of re-assessment may be burdensome. Interested parties must demonstrate that the total material processed over the last 12-month period is less than or equal to the following:

• Sn: <60,000 kg
• Co: <40,000 kg
• Ta: <10,000 kg
• Au: <1,000 kg
• W: TBC

The SOR also has to meet the definition of a Small or Medium Enterprise (SME):

Company category	Staff headcount	Turnover	or		Balance sheet total
Medium-sized	< 250	≤  50 m		≤  43 m
Small	< 50	≤  10 m		≤  10 m
Micro	< 10	≤  2 m		≤  2 m

 

An application form and supporting documentation in the form of a mass balance for the previous 12-month period up to one month before application will be required. If the RMI finds that the SOR meets these criteria RMI will cover 75% of the cost of the assessment. The SOR will be responsible for the remaining 25% of the assessment cost. Funds are only eligible for the on-site assessment and not for CAP implementation review (either on-site or desktop).

*If the Assessment Fund falls below a pre-established threshold, then funds will be reserved for assessments of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten and Gold. RMI members and the RMI Steering Committee will be notified if the Assessment Fund approaches this threshold and applicants will be updated accordingly.

Please submit any questions or the application and required documentation to RMIAssessment@responsiblebusiness.org. Application can be found here in English and Korean.

Assessment Fund Donations

RMI members interested in contributing to the Assessment Fund should contact Maggie Gabos. Donations are tax deductible and can be made via check or wire transfer. Contributing companies will recognized on the RMI website. Please note, the Foundation deducts 2% of the donation for operational costs.

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UPSTREAM DUE DILIGENCE SMELTER FUND 

Smelters and refiners (SORs) participating in RMAP sourcing from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (CAHRAs) have several due diligence requirements, one of which is to conduct on-the-ground assessments. For the DRC and some of the adjoining countries, upstream assurance mechanisms exist (e.g., iTSCi and Better Mining) to reduce the burden on companies to conduct these activities by themselves. However, for newly identified CAHRAs, no upstream assurance mechanisms exist. This means the SORs must take individual responsibility to gather this information, placing a significant burden on them to expend resources and time to conduct upstream due diligence independently. The burden is so great that it risks being an impediment to sourcing from those CAHRAs in a manner that could be of great economic development value for the local communities. Moreover, SORs often lack the expertise to conduct conflict/human rights assessments.

RMI member companies that provide financial support to the Upstream Due Diligence Fund are cost-sharing the financial costs of upstream due diligence with their supply chain partners. Our thanks to the following members who have contributed to the fund since 2019:

Founding companies are labeled with an asterisk (*):

Axalta Coating Systems*	Becton Dickinson*	Best Buy*	Cisco*	Fiat Chrysler Automobiles*	Google*
Hewlett Packard Enterprise*	Intel Corporation*	Microsoft*

Eligibility 

Entities must apply for use of the fund to support one (or more) of the following activities:

• Smelters and refiners independently conducting due diligence on their upstream supply chains either themselves or with a consultant.
• Local suppliers of smelters and refiners to conduct assessments themselves.
• Local communities from which smelter and refiners source to build capacity to conduct the assessments and ongoing mine site monitoring.
• Financial assistance to industry associations, educational organizations, or other not-for-profits who are looking to develop or expand upstream assurance mechanisms into CAHRAs more broadly
• Upstream Assurance Mechanisms (UAMs) recognized by RMI that need to undergo a reassessment for recognition
• Upstream Assurance Mechanisms (UAMs) recognized by RMI that request funding for specific initiatives (such as support for expansion to new minerals, continuity during COVID-19, etc.).

Smelters and refiners must first meet the RMAP eligibility requirements to be eligible for the Upstream Due Diligence Fund. Entities may only apply once per year. 

This fund is applicable to all minerals covered by RMAP / RMI. If interested, please submit a proposal for funding and any supporting documentation to Maggie Gabos. Application can be found here. 

Upstream Due Diligence Fund Donations

RMI members interested in contributing to the Upstream Due Diligence Fund should contact Maggie Gabos. Donations are tax deductible and can be made via check or wire transfer. Contributing companies will recognized on the RMI website. Please note, the Foundation deducts 2% of the donation for operational costs.

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RMI SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND

RMI wants to ensure that it can support initiatives and causes that are core to its mission and values. Starting in 2022, RMI encourages organizations to apply for funding for special projects in the four categories below:

1. Traceability/Technology
2. Child Labor/Community Engagement
3. Awareness Raising
4. Special Projects (e.g., pilots, research projects, etc.)

Entities can apply for funding between July 1-August 31^st each year. Funding will be provided for the following calendar year. RMI members that commit to funding will select up to four projects each year to receive funding in each of the categories above.

Eligibility

Entities must apply for use of the fund and indicate which category the project/ initiative falls under. Entities must agree to the terms and conditions set forth by RMI, including that project deliverables such as progress reports and final reports be shared with all RMI member companies donating to the project.

If interested, please submit a proposal for funding and any supporting documentation to RMI@responsiblebusiness.org. Application can be found here.

RMI Special Projects Fund Donations

RMI members interested in contributing to the RMI Special Projects Fund should contact RMI@responsiblebusiness.org. Donations are tax deductible and can be made via check or wire transfer. Contributing companies will recognized on the RMI website. Please note, the Foundation deducts 2% of the donation for operational costs.