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BMW, Ferrari, VW cars use tungsten mined by terrorists

Bloomberg Markets is reporting that BMW, Volkswagen and Ferrari have been using tungsten ore sourced from Columbia's FARC rebel terrorists. The extensive story focuses on Columbia's illegal mining trade and calls into question the provenance of the rare ore that is used not only in crankshaft parts production, but is also found in the world's computing and telecommunications industry for use in screens.
The ore is mined by the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army), and exported to Pennsylvania, where it is refined. The refined ore is then sent over to Austria, where a company called Plansee turns it into a finished product. Now, it's important to note that we aren't talking about the world's supply of tungsten here. In 2012, Plansee's American refinery purchased 93.2 metric tons of tungsten, valued at $1.8 million. That's peanuts, with the entire Colombian tungsten mining industry producing just one percent of the world's supplies.
That doesn't make indirectly supporting FARC any more acceptable, though. BMW, VW and Ferrari are all committed to not accepting mineral supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is also in the grips of a guerrilla insurrection funded, in part, by illegal mining. The same commitment would figure to extend to Colombian mining, but as BMW points out, it's difficult for a multi-national manufacturer to know where every item in its supply chain comes from. A company spokesperson says as much, telling Bloomberg, "These few grams out of the billions of tons of raw materials passing through the BMW supply chain are of no practical relevance."

Chris Harris wrings out Ferrari F40 and F50 on track

Chris Harris one of the most beloved of British automotive journalists, and yet Ferrari doesn't seem inclined to take him off its black list. Something about having shined the light on the way Maranello sets up its cars for press evaluations, years ago... So the only time the auto scribe and video host we know as Monkey gets his hands on a Prancing Horse-emblazoned steering wheel is when a private owner offers Harris a drive. Fortunately, that seems to happen all the time, but rarely in such a fashion as it has for this latest video.
Here the owner of not only an F40 but also its successor the F50 has lent Harris both of his anniversary-edition Ferrari supercars and insisted that he drive them aggressively. So off they went to the Anglesey circuit in Wales to see how these precursors to the Enzo and LaFerrari fare alongside one another decades after they first hit the road.

Electro super star Deadmau5 selling kitty-themed Ferrari 458

Are you a huge fan a electronic dance music, Internet memes, and in the market for a customized Ferrari? Then today is your lucky day. EDM star Deadmau5, real name Joel Zimmerman, is selling his Ferrari 458 Spider on Craigslist. He calls it the Purrari, and it features a full-body wrap of the eight-bit Nyan Cat, pink brake calipers, prancing cat logos, a Purrari emblem 6,500 miles on the odometer. It's currently located in Toronto, Canada, with an asking price of $380,000. Any amount offered over that is being donated to the Toronto Humane Society.
In addition to the car, the buyer gets an iPod full of "nyancat songs" and a meeting with Zimmerman to say goodbye to his Purrari over a cup of coffee. If you're not in the Toronto area, he is willing to ship the feline automobile anywhere in North America. Obviously, a blue, cat-themed Ferrari isn't to everyone's taste, so Zimmerman can remove the wrap at the buyer's request... though he won't be happy about it.
If you're curious why Zimmerman would sell such a personalized item, it appears a new supercar has his eye now. On May 28, he tweeted about driving a McLaren 650S and announced the Purrari would go up for sale soon. We can only imagine what theme his next ride gets.