MetalMiner, in conjunction with The Elm Consulting Group International, has just issued a new white paper...analyz[ing] the OECD Cycle 3 Final Report, “Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk.”...The paper covers the practical issues involved with actual conflict minerals compliance programs...[T]he analysis discusses the growing consensus around various EICC/GeSI initiatives, particularly the Conflict-Free Smelter Program...It also highlights some of the early findings around how companies have gone about identifying and gathering data from suppliers, as well as the challenges around validating supplier responses to questionnaires and templates...One of the more significant early findings involves the lack of overlap between REACH/RoHS [EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive] regulatory compliance programs and conflict minerals implementation programs. The early pilot results suggest companies will find little to leverage in existing regulatory compliance programs.