KEMET Participates in UN Global Compact and Maplecroft Conflict Minerals Webinar

GREENVILLE, S.C., Aug. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM), a leading manufacturer of tantalum, ceramic, aluminum, film, paper and electrolytic capacitors, today announced that its "Making Africa Work" program was featured during the recent UN Global Compact and Maplecroft webinar on Conflict Minerals. This program focuses on sourcing conflict-free tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through KEMET's closed-pipe vertically integrated supply chain.

"The opportunity to present "Making Africa Work" at this forum is witness to the quality of the KEMET program," stated Dr. Daniel F. Persico, KEMET's Vice President, Special Projects. "All the parties involved in the webinar are stakeholders in helping resolve the issue of conflict minerals in the DRC, an issue that touches all of us on a daily basis. The more we can do to raise awareness, the quicker this horrendous human rights problem will be resolved," continued Persico.

The KEMET "Making Africa Work" program is unique in that it includes a comprehensive social sustainability and economic solution for all involved parties. By developing a completely closed-pipe vertically integrated supply chain from the mine to the customer, KEMET controls the flow of tantalum to guarantee its conflict-free authenticity. In addition, KEMET committed $1.5 million to social programs at the Kisengo mining community in the DRC to support the development of a stable and sustainable environment to improve the quality of life for its people.

The webinar presented many aspects of the conflict minerals issue including the challenges companies face in respecting and supporting human rights, the relevance of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act and the EICC/GeSI Conflict Free Smelter program which audits and certifies smelter supply chains as conflict-free. The conflict minerals webinar is part of the Human Rights and Business Dilemmas Forum, which is co-hosted by the UN Global Compact and Maplecroft with the support of the GE Foundation. The Forum provides a platform to discuss the challenges responsible multinational corporations face in respecting and supporting human rights in emerging economies.

The UN Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. 

Maplecroft is a leading source of global risks analysis. It analyzes, indexes and maps over 500 risks and issues to identify exposures and opportunities in both countries and companies. The company's products and services are a vital resource for businesses and investors requiring analysis and insight into complex political, economic, social and environmental risks.

About KEMET

KEMET's common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "KEM." At the Investor Relations section of our web site at http://ir.KEMET.com, users may subscribe to KEMET news releases and find additional information about our Company. KEMET applies world class service and quality to deliver industry leading, high performance capacitance solutions to its customers around the world and offers the world's most complete line of surface mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum, electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. Additional information about KEMET can be found at http://www.kemet.com.

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SOURCE KEMET Corporation