The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted  to require companies to disclose their use of four key minerals - gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum - mined in and around the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.

The minerals, known as blood or conflict minerals because their sale helps finance armies in that region, are essential to the manufacturing of mobile phones, medical equipment, automobile electronics and hundreds of other products.

The agency also enacted rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose payments to governments related to the extraction of oil, natural gas or other important resources.

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