Peter S. Goodman

So Trafigura gave us this kind of general statement, but they say that they have an audit process that ensures that they're complying with their official social and environmental standards.

And we actually talked to a consultant who does the audits for Trafigura in Lagos, who pushed back on the idea that it's just like performative, superficial.

He

He said, I really go and I look.

First question I had is, okay, do you go to the battery breaking yards?

No, no, I just go to the smelter.

Okay, so right off the bat, you don't know anything about the raw materials that are coming in or the impact for the people who are working in those places or where the acid's going.

Is it going in a stream?

You know, none of that, right?

So then even at the smelter, I said, well, what do you do?

He said, well, I look very, you know, carefully, but...

The consultant said, I give them a real list of problems that I identify, but the way this goes, and I confirmed this with people who've worked at Trafigura, is the auditor will say, okay, you know, it really would be good if you handed out safety goggles on a regular basis.

It really would be good if you put in a system to control the lead dust.

It would be great if you put in battery-breaking equipment.

And the smelter will say, OK, thank you very much for your suggestion.

We will certainly hand out safety goggles.

And the trafficker says, great, your audit's done.

Now let's talk about the volume of the next deal.

I mean, this is not a process that can end up in derailing a deal.

This is a process that is informed by a desire to reach a conclusion at which the deal carries on.