The Oro Puno Gold Mine, Peru

High in Peru's Andes, at around 4,700 meters, the miners of Oro Puno wash gold out of the gravel of ancient glaciers – with water and gravity alone. No mercury, no cyanide. In 2018, Oro Puno became the first Peruvian mining organization to obtain the Fairmined Ecological Gold certification, and it is where our own Fairmined Ecological Gold comes from.

Key insights

• The Oro Puno gold mine lies at around 4,700 meters in Peru's Andes. The small company in Ananea, Puno region, employed 28 people in 2022 and mines gold from glacial moraines.
• Oro Puno gold is recovered without mercury or cyanide. In 2018, Oro Puno became the first Peruvian mining organization to obtain the Fairmined Ecological Gold certification. As of September 2026, it is one of only two such mines.
• Gravity-only gold is rare, because it yields less. On top of the Fairmined Premium of 4,000 US dollars per kilogram, buyers pay an Ecological Premium of 2,000 US dollars, which is meant to offset exactly that.
• The premium pays for warmer, safer work. It has financed cold-weather clothing, a sluice that recovers more process water, electricity for the mine and support for the community.
• Fairever sources its Fairmined Ecological Gold from Oro Puno. It stays physically separate from mine to market, and our label names the mine and its Fairmined ID.

Table of contents

• Oro Puno at a glance
• Gold from the gravel of ancient glaciers
  • Life and work at 4,700 meters
  • A deposit shaped by glaciers
• La Rinconada: the same gold, a different way
• How Oro Puno mines gold without mercury or cyanide
  • Water jets, sluices and a shaking table
  • Water in, water back
  • Why is gravity-only gold so rare?
• Peru's first Fairmined Ecological mine
• Why Oro Puno gold is responsible gold
  • No mercury, no cyanide, land given back
  • Audited and traceable from mine to market
  • A fair price and the highest Fairmined premium
• What has the Fairmined Premium paid for?
  • What we saw at Oro Puno
• From Ananea to your workbench
• FAQs: The Oro Puno gold mine, Peru
• Key takeaways
  • In a nutshell ...
  • Get active, be the change!
  • Further reading
• Sources

Oro Puno at a glance

Gold from the gravel of ancient glaciers

Life and work at 4,700 meters

Oro Puno mines gold in one of the harshest places on earth to do it. Its site in the Pampablanca sector of Ananea lies at around 4,700 meters, where daytime highs reach 7 °C and nights drop to −13 °C.¹ In 2022, the company employed 28 people, two of them women; some 24 families live directly from the mine, and more than 200 people indirectly.²³

Fairever's founder, Florian Harkort, visited Oro Puno in 2019. What stayed with him was the altitude:

"Oro Puno sits at 4,700 meters in the high Andes, where the air is noticeably thin – every step a reminder of the conditions under which these people work, day after day, for our gold."

– Florian Harkort, Founder, Fairever⁶

A deposit shaped by glaciers

Oro Puno's gold was ground out of the mountains by ice. The company mines a glacial moraine, "the material left behind from a thawing, retreating glacier," as the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) puts it, along with alluvial sands and gravels.⁸¹ According to ARM, deposits of this type stretch from the Apolobamba range in Bolivia into southern Peru.⁸ The gold sits in the gravel as fine grains, and how the miners separate it makes all the difference.

La Rinconada: the same gold, a different way

Up the road from Ananea, mercury is the norm. At around 5,100 meters lies La Rinconada, which National Geographic calls "the highest settlement on the planet."⁹¹⁰ Vapor from the mercury used to process gold there contaminates the nearby glacier known as Sleeping Beauty, and with it the water residents use for drinking and cooking.⁹

Across the district of Ananea, researchers have measured mercury in water, soil and plants, with the highest levels near mining and processing sites.¹¹ In 2018, ARM estimated that around 300 women panned gold informally in Ananea, using mercury "in an uncontrolled manner."¹² Worldwide, artisanal and small-scale gold mining accounts for 37 % of all mercury released into air, water and land.¹³

Pay can be as harsh as the chemistry. Under a system called cachorreo, many miners in La Rinconada work around 25 days a month without wages and keep only what ore they find on the remaining days, according to a journalist's report published by the International Labour Organization.¹⁴ More on this in our profile of the neighboring CECOMSAP gold mine and in our overview of gold mining's social impact.

This is not a verdict on the people who work there, but on mining without rules, fair buyers or independent checks. Oro Puno washes the same kind of gravel – under very different rules.

How Oro Puno mines gold without mercury or cyanide

Oro Puno recovers its gold with water and gravity alone. Gold is far heavier than the sand and gravel around it, and every step of the process uses that difference.¹

Water jets, sluices and a shaking table

The miners work open pits in the moraine. High-pressure water hoses loosen the gravel and wash it through chutes, or sluices, where the heavy gold particles settle while sand and stones are carried away.⁵¹² In 2018, some of Oro Puno's first Fairmined Premium bought jebe, a waterproof, rubber-like material, for new chutes.¹⁵

The concentrate then goes onto a shaking table, which "uses the density of gold to obtain the grains of gold without using mercury," as ARM's 2020 profile of the mine describes it.¹ "We want to invest the Fairmined Premium in achieving our long-lasting dream of acquiring a mineral concentration plant, which we really need," said Jaime Molleapasa Arispe, then Oro Puno's manager, in 2018.¹⁵

Water in, water back

The process water is collected, cleaned and used again. "The water is caught in large pools, then filtered and cleaned, at the end, the clean water is reused again during the washing of the gold with high pressure hoses," the jewelry designer Saskia Shutt reported after visiting Oro Puno and neighboring mines.⁵ In 2022, the premium paid for a new sluice, which raised water recovery by 70–80 %.²

Why is gravity-only gold so rare?

Because gravity alone recovers less gold than chemistry. Without mercury or cyanide, some of the finest gold is lost; in 2019, ARM was helping Oro Puno find ways to recover "the fine gold that is left in the settling basin at the end of the process."¹⁶

That is why the Fairmined Gold Standard adds an Ecological Premium of 2,000 US dollars per kilogram. It "may also compensate for economic losses due to lower gold recovery of the applied mercury-free and cyanide-free processing techniques," the standard says.¹⁷ The switch itself is expensive, too: a mercury-free processing plant for a small mine costs around 100,000 US dollars.⁷

Not every mine can go this way: in hard-rock mines such as Iquira in Colombia, gold is locked in other minerals, and cyanide, used under strict Fairmined rules, is part of the solution. Alluvial gold like Oro Puno's is where gravity can do the whole job.⁷

Peru's first Fairmined Ecological mine

On January 15, 2018, Oro Puno became the first Peruvian mining organization to obtain the Fairmined Ecological Gold certification.³ It got there with support from the Better Gold Initiative of Swiss development cooperation (SECO) and its local partner, the ABR consulting group.⁸

In 2019, Oro Puno was recertified "for the second consecutive year" and advanced its environmental monitoring "for the air, noise, water, soil, and flora and fauna."¹⁸ As of September 2026, it holds the certification under the Fairmined ID PE10018E.⁶

Fairmined Ecological is the most demanding environmental category of the Fairmined Standard. On top of all regular Fairmined requirements, it allows "only gravimetric methods" and requires an environmental management plan and the rehabilitation of the native ecosystem "from the outset."¹⁷ More on the category: what is Fairmined Ecological Gold?

Few mines have reached it. As of September 2026, only two Fairmined-certified mines hold the ecological certification, both in Ananea: Oro Puno and its neighbor CECOMIP, which followed in 2021.⁷⁶¹⁹ The idea goes back to the Oro Verde initiative in Colombia, which received the first certification for ecological gold in 2011.²⁰

Francisco Ceama, who worked at Oro Puno, summed up the mine's approach for Fairmined:

"A responsible small-scale operation IS possible, with commitment, wisdom, effort and dedication."

– Francisco Ceama, Oro Puno³

Why Oro Puno gold is responsible gold

Oro Puno gold is responsibly mined because it is recovered without mercury and cyanide, the mine is independently audited against the Fairmined Standard, every gram stays traceable to the mine, and the miners receive a fair price plus the highest premium the standard sets.

No mercury, no cyanide, land given back

Oro Puno's processing is environmentally responsible in four specific ways: no mercury, no cyanide, process water collected and reused, and mined land closed and replanted. The standard requires Fairmined Ecological mines to use only gravity methods and to rehabilitate the native ecosystem from the start.¹⁷ In 2020, Oro Puno closed and replanted 18,000 square meters of mined land in the Chaquimina area with native plants.²¹ In 2023, the premium paid for hoses, pumps and irrigation to continue that work.²²

Audited and traceable from mine to market

An independent, ARM-approved certification body audits Oro Puno against the Fairmined Standard. For Fairmined Ecological Gold, the standard requires physical traceability at all times, with no exceptions, and the gold may only be combined with other Fairmined Ecological Gold.¹⁷ More on why this matters: traceable gold.

A fair price and the highest Fairmined premium

The miners get a fair price and the highest premium in the Fairmined Standard. The standard guarantees at least 95 % of the LBMA gold price; Fairever voluntarily pays 96–99 %.¹⁷⁶ On top come 4,000 US dollars Fairmined Premium and 2,000 US dollars Ecological Premium per kilogram – 6,000 US dollars in total, paid in full to the mining organization.¹⁷ That money stays in Ananea – what we mean by responsible small-scale gold mining.

What has the Fairmined Premium paid for?

The miners decide how the premium is spent. A premium committee that fairly represents all groups in the mine sets the priorities, and the mine reports on the results every year.¹⁷ The most recent year with published amounts is 2022: Oro Puno received 98,887 US dollars in premiums and invested 131,884 US dollars, including savings from earlier years.²

Warmth matters at 4,700 meters. "The Fairmined premium has helped us improve the life quality of our workers," said Jaime Enrique Mollepasa, Oro Puno's manager at the time. "For example, we have invested on a bigger dining room with amenities for cold weather, and hot-water showers thanks to the solar panels."²⁴

What we saw at Oro Puno

Desirée Binternagel, Fairever's managing director, visited Oro Puno in May 2022 with a group of 13 jewelers and suppliers from North America, Asia and Europe. Edgar Gutiérrez Cayro, today Oro Puno's manager, accompanied the group and answered their questions.²⁵⁶

"At Oro Puno, I watched the miners wash gold out of glacial gravel with nothing but water and gravity. No mercury, no cyanide – just a shaking table, cold hands and a lot of patience. When the fine gold finally appeared on that table, I understood what goes into every gram of this gold."

– Desirée Binternagel, Managing Director, Fairever

From Ananea to your workbench

Fairever sources its Fairmined Ecological Gold from Oro Puno in Peru. Our strategic partner, the Betts Group, refines it, and it stays separate from all other gold.⁶¹⁷ We offer it as fine gold grain, 999.9, and every label names the mine and its Fairmined ID, PE10018E.

The effect is easy to calculate. A wedding ring of 8 grams in 18-karat gold (750) contains 6 grams of fine gold. Made from Fairmined Ecological Gold, it earns the mine 36 US dollars in premiums: 6 grams × 6 US dollars. What you may tell your customers is explained in our guide to Fairmined product claims.

Oro Puno's gold also contains a little silver. We have it refined separately and offer it as Fairmined Ecological Silver, in the small quantities the mine produces.⁶

In February 2024, seven miners from Oro Puno visited us at the Inhorgenta jewelry fair in Munich, and their manager, Edgar Gutiérrez, joined Florian Harkort on stage to discuss what certification changes at the mine.⁶

"In Munich, the miners of Oro Puno saw for the first time what becomes of the gravel they wash at 4,700 meters. And our customers met the people at the very start of their supply chain. That is the moment 'supply chain' stops being an abstract word."

– Florian Harkort, Founder, Fairever

FAQs: The Oro Puno gold mine, Peru

Key takeaways

In a nutshell ...

• Gold without mercury or cyanide exists – and it is audited. Since 2018, the Oro Puno gold mine has recovered its gold with water and gravity alone, certified to the most demanding environmental category of the Fairmined Standard.
• Same mountains, opposite choices. In nearby La Rinconada, mercury contaminates a glacier and drinking water; at Oro Puno, process water is reused and mined land replanted.
• The Ecological Premium pays for the harder way. Gravity-only mining recovers less gold, so buyers pay 2,000 US dollars per kilogram on top of the regular 4,000 – money the miners invest themselves.
• The difference lies before the workbench. Refined gold always looks the same. Only an unbroken chain back to the mine, with the Fairmined ID on the label, shows that your gold comes from Oro Puno.

Get active, be the change!

Oro Puno gold reaches jewelers as fine grain, ready to alloy and cast.

Want to work with gold from Oro Puno? Take a look at our Fairmined Eco Gold – or get in touch, and we will tell you more about the mine behind it.

Further reading

• The certification behind Oro Puno's gold, explained: what is Fairmined Ecological Gold?
• The rules in detail, from mercury to minimum price: the Fairmined Gold Standard.
• What you can safely tell your customers: Fairmined product claims.

Sources

1. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Minera Oro Puno S.A., mine profile, 2020. Translated by Fairever; original wording of the quote: “aprovecha la densidad del oro para obtener los granos de oro sin usar mercurio”. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
2. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Fairmined Premium Report 2022, 2023, pp. 62–69. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
3. Fairmined, Oro Puno, community profile, accessed September 2026. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
4. Fairever estimate; our own calculation, rounded. (1) Lower value: in 2022, Oro Puno received 98,887 US dollars in premiums (footnote 2). At 6,000 US dollars per kilogram of Fairmined Ecological Gold (footnote 17), that corresponds to 98,887 ÷ 6,000 ≈ 16.5 kg of certified gold sold in 2022, or 16.5 ÷ 12 ≈ 1.4 kg a month. Gold sold outside the certified supply chain is not included. (2) Upper value: in an undated report, Saskia Shutt writes that CECOMIP, Oro Puno and Cruz Pata “extract approximately 4 kilos of gold per month” (footnote 5); we read this as a figure per mine, since CECOMIP alone reported 7.5 kg a month for one of its mines in 2025 (Alliance for Responsible Mining, Fairmined Credits – Communications and Mine Profiles, 2025). Range 1.4–4 kg a month, rounded to 1.5–4 kg; midpoint (1.4 + 4) ÷ 2 = 2.7 kg, or around 32 kg a year. ↩
5. Saskia Shutt, My Trip to the Fairmined Gold Mines in Peru, undated, accessed September 2026. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
6. Fairever, internal information, September 2026. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
7. ORIGEN – Gold for Future, a Barcelona-based initiative of responsible jewelers, Gold to be even more proud of, article drafted in partnership with the Alliance for Responsible Mining, last updated January 5, 2026. Status as of September 2026: see footnote 6. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
8. Fairmined, A new Fairmined certification in Peru, February 16, 2018. ↩ ↩ ↩
9. Barbara Fraser and Hildegard Willer, Gold is a toxic lure in the world’s highest settlement, National Geographic, June 15, 2021. Conversion (our own calculation): 16,732 feet × 0.3048 ≈ 5,100 meters. ↩ ↩
10. La República, Puno: Cecomsap remedió impactos por colapso de poza de relaves, December 17, 2021 (road connecting Ananea with La Rinconada). ↩
11. Huisa-Mamani, Arizaca-Avalos and Llanque-Maquera, Mercury pollution in water, soil, and biota induced by artisanal gold mining: A case study from Ananea District, Puno, Peru, Journal of Degraded and Mining Lands Management 12(2), 2025. ↩
12. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Implementing a multi-donor program in Ananea to promote responsible mining territories in Peru, April 3, 2018. ↩
13. UNEP Global Mercury Partnership, Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM), accessed September 2026. ↩
14. Elmer Mamani, “Cachorreo”, the system used to exploit miners in La Rinconada, International Labour Organization, July 14, 2024. ↩
15. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Fairmined Premium Report 2018, 2019, p. 37. ↩ ↩ ↩
16. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Experiences in the production of gold with small-scale mining cooperatives of Peru, Bolivia and Colombia, February 2019. ↩
17. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Fairmined Standard for Gold from Artisanal and Small-scale Mining, including Associated Precious Metals, version 2.0, April 5, 2014, section 2.3 (intent) and requirements 1.4.4, 2.3.1–2.3.3, 4.1.2, 4.1.8, 5.2.1, 5.2.5, 5.2.6, 5.2.8 and 5.5.2. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
18. Fairmined, CECOMIP and Oro Puno achieved Fairmined recertification, July 15, 2019. ↩
19. Fairmined, CECOMIP mining organization achieves the Fairmined Ecological Gold certification, February 10, 2022. ↩
20. Natural Justice, First Fair Trade and Fairmined Gold from Oro Verde, February 10, 2011. ↩
21. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Fairmined Premium Report 2020, 2021. ↩ ↩
22. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Fairmined Premium Report 2023, 2025, pp. 37–42. ↩ ↩
23. Alliance for Responsible Mining, Annual Report 2025, 2026, p. 23. ↩
24. Fairmined, Fairmined premium: transformation for mining communities, accessed September 2026, undated quote. ARM’s documents spell the manager’s name both Molleapasa and Mollepasa. ↩
25. Fairmined, A Journey to the origins: Peru 2022, a meeting between miners and jewelers, June 17, 2022. ↩