Oregon Public Broadcasting

A couple of dozen people protested outside Intel's plant in Hillsboro Monday.

Activists protest Intel's use of conflict minerals

They say the chip company is trying to weaken a bill that would block the import of minerals from conflict areas. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

Conflict diamonds mined in war zones and sold by militias to fund those wars.

Now there's a movement to stop militias from doing the same with other minerals.

A congressional committee is considering a 'Conflict Minerals Trade Act.'

Portland activist, Lisa Shannon, says Intel has taken steps to get rid of conflict minerals in its products -- like gold and tantalum -- but the company has now proposed a series of amendments to the act.

Lisa Shannon: "They started a third party audit program for the smelters of tantalum, for their supply chain. And that was a huge step forward. It was amazing. I was very disappointed last week and learned they had been so heavily involved in the lobby effort to gut the bill."

Intel issued a statement saying it is concerned about conflict minerals; and that it wants to make sure legislation will achieve real change -- not just result in an unintended ban on legitimate trade.