Launch of Fairtrade Gold

In recent years shoppers have become more aware of the impact of their buying habits, and conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia have made people ask more questions about where their jewellery comes from. The Kimberley Process was established in 2003 to help prevent the trade in ‘conflict’ diamonds, but what of the gold?

A History of mining

Gold mining has historically been a tough and dirty business with artisanal and small scale miners (ASMs) trying to compete against large scale organisations. The small scale miners often have no rights to mine the land they work on and conditions are often dangerous, sometimes including daily contact with mercury, cyanide and nitric acid. If not treated and disposed of correctly, these toxic chemicals can cause horrendous health problems as well as contaminate the environment in which the communities live, killing both livestock and crops.

To make matters worse, the miners can work such long hours that they often have to sell their gold at the mine site, leaving them at the mercy of unfair supply chains so they find it difficult to get a fair price. A miner who is not part of an organised group may typically receive only a fraction of the internationally agreed price of gold.

The future for miners

The Alliance for Responsible Mining is a global initiative which was established to help miners resolve these problems, improving social, environmental and labour practices. They joined with the internationally recognised Fairtrade Labelling Organisation to share their knowledge and create a system which ensures a traceable supply chain from mine to retail that will inspire consumer confidence and help those people who need it most. The system is independently monitored at every stage to ensure full compliance so that a customer who buys a ring made with the jointly labelled Fairtrade / Fairmined gold knows that the money they spend really will go back to those who worked to extract the gold from the earth.

An additional portion of the money also goes to the community where it is used to improve their business or for community development projects. Organisations that produce their gold without the use of mercury or cyanide earn an additional 5% as an ‘ecological premium’ in recognition of the extra costs involved in mining this way.

With the Fairtrade Gold Launch we at Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery are proud to be one of the first twenty companies in the UK (and therefore the world) to be licensed to use Fairtrade / Fairmined gold. We are really excited; being able to offer this gold to our customers, knowing what a difference it can make to mining communities is a privilege. We are sure that our customers will be equally pleased to use it in their bespoke jewellery, adding this history to the story behind their commission.