Introduction to the Analytical Fingerprint

Coltan separation by hand, Kenticha, Ethiopia Source: BGR

The Analytical Fingerprint (AFP) method refers to a scientific tool which can be used to check the documented origin of tin, tungsten, and tantalum (3T) ore mineral shipments. AFP is designed as an optional proof of origin within the framework of mineral certification. AFP compares a sample from a shipment in question to reference samples of the documented origin stored in a database. As such AFP combines the identification of characteristic geochemical features preserved in mineral concentrates and applied statistics. As a result AFP evaluates whether the origin given in the documents of a shipment in question is plausible or not.
The AFP method has been developed by BGR since 2006 as a contribution to calls by the UN for a scheme to verify the origin of “conflict minerals” mined in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries. As part of technical cooperation efforts within the regional German support program running from 2011-2022, BGR aims to make the AFP method available to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and partners, including a transfer of skills, technology, and management into the region.

Office of the AFP Management Unit in Bujumbura, Burundi Source: BGR

AFP shall be applied as an optional forensic tool in the frame of audits or risk assessments of mineral supply chains associated with conflict-affected or high-risk areas. It shall be employed in the uppermost section of the mineral supply chain, in the segment stretching from mine sites to local exporters, prior to homogenizing a container load for export. AFP results are to be integrated into audit or risk assessment findings, and should always be interpreted in concert with these findings. AFP is not intended to be applied as a stand-alone method for mineral sourcing decisions and is not intended to be applied as a regular tool to control every mineral shipment. Likewise, AFP does not represent an alternative to everyday mineral traceability techniques (e.g., tagging) but serves to verify the integrity, and thus credibility, of the latter.
Mine operators in the Great Lakes Region seeking certification under the ICGLR and CTC schemes are required to allow AFP reference sampling on their concession area or else risk being yellow-flagged. An AFP Management Unit (AMU) was established in Bujumbura in 2013 and has been fully integrated into the Technical Unit on Natural Resources of the ICGLR secretariat in 2016. Reference sampling programs are implemented in Rwanda, the DRC and Burundi, and in-country petrographic laboratories have been established in Kigali, Bukavu and Bujumbura to prepare samples. A laboratory (hosting SEM and LA-ICP-MS units) to perform sample analysis has been inaugurated in June 2018 at the African Minerals and Geosciences Centre (formerly SEAMIC) in Dar-es-salaam.