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Cotapata Mining Cooperative, PDF Download
SOTRAMI, PDF Download
Oro Verde, PDF Download

Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold: Empowering responsible artisanal and small-scale miners

Gold is a symbol of love, power and wealth but our briefing explains that for the 90% of the global gold labour force who are one of 15 million artisanal and small-scale miners working in harsh conditions, the reality is very different.

Open to exploitation at the bottom of complex supply chains, their access to markets is limited meaning they rarely receive a fair price for their product and face a multitude of challenges as they struggle to survive. Ignored by most mining laws, they are vulnerable and pushed into informal and illegal operations leading to even worse working conditions and pollution caused by mismanagement of toxic chemicals. Tracing gold from miner to retailer is difficult and the gold industry has been slow to deal with this, making it virtually impossible for consumers to know where and under what conditions the gold in their jewellery was mined.

The Fairtrade Foundation together with the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) are bringing to market the first ever Fairtrade and Fairmined certified gold jewellery in the UK. This initiative offers a lifeline to economically disadvantaged artisanal miners and their communities by training miners' groups like SOTRAMI in Peru, Oro Verde in Colombia and Cotapata in Bolivia to meet standards on working conditions, child labour, women's rights, cleaner technology, health and safety, management of chemicals and responsibility to the environment before the gold they produce can be certified as Fairtrade and Fairmined. In return, the miners gain market access and receive a Fairtrade premium which must be used democratically to improve their business or for community development projects.

Fairtrade and Fairmined certification brings consumers and retailers confidence that artisanal and small-scale miners are getting a fair deal and responsible mining practices have been used. But this is just the start of the journey. Fairtrade and Fairmined certified gold has the potential to enable thousands more artisanal miners to escape from unfair supply chains and dangerous working conditions.