EU Conflict Minerals Regulation term for in-scope minerals or metals obtained from processing an outside-scope primary mineral or metal.
By-product is a source-origin and processing-boundary term. It helps distinguish material obtained incidentally through another primary mineral or metal process from ordinary in-scope minerals/metals and from recycled metals.
Regulation (EU) 2017/821 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas
a mineral or metal falling within the scope of this Regulation that has been obtained from the processing of a mineral or metal falling outside the scope of this Regulation, and which would not have been obtained without the processing of the primary mineral or metal falling outside the scope of this Regulation
Article 2 definitions for EU conflict-minerals due diligence. Source-specific to tin, tantalum, tungsten, their ores, and gold.
Reference: Article 2, point (t)
Implementation records should capture the primary mineral or metal, outside-scope material, processing-origin evidence, resulting in-scope mineral or metal, facility/process link, batch identifier, and distinction from recycled-metals evidence.
Conflict-minerals by-product is a processing-origin control: it helps avoid treating incidentally obtained in-scope material as if it had the same source story as directly extracted 3TG minerals or recycled metal outputs.