Walk Free is also campaigning for Nintendo Co., the world’s largest maker of video machines, to ensure that its supply chain is free of conflict minerals, Forrest said. Nintendo supports the sourcing of conflict-free minerals and prohibits their production partners from using conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kyoto-based company said in an emailed document. The company also visited the plants of production partners to be sure they weren’t used, it said.
“When it comes to changing attitudes we need a broad section of society,” said Macquarie’s McKeon, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, and temporarily paralyzed. The diagnosis spurred his charity work that has included counseling heroin addicts and chairing the Global Poverty Project Inc. “If you’ve got someone of Forrest’s clout in the minerals industry, saying something’s not right, it obviously has enormous impact.”