Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) produces 15–20 % of the world’s gold but provides around 90 % of all jobs in gold mining. We explore the sector’s challenges and potential – and profile mines that practice responsible small-scale mining, for example under Fairtrade or Fairmined, which ban whole-ore amalgamation with mercury.
Ask where a sheet of sterling silver was mined, and you rarely get an answer. Fairever ASM Silver is artisanal silver from three small-scale gold
Small Craft gold is traceable artisanal gold from small-scale mines that are accredited by Swiss Better Gold or certified by Fairtrade or Fairmined. The Swiss
Fairtrade Gold is gold from certified artisanal and small-scale mines, bought on Fairtrade terms: at least 95 % of the London gold price, plus a
Fairmined Credits let jewelry makers pay the Fairmined Premium to certified small-scale mines for gold they cannot buy as physical Fairmined Gold. Each credit stands
Fairmined Ecological Gold is certified gold from small-scale mines that is recovered with gravity alone – without mercury or cyanide. In a sector that is
The Fairmined Gold Standard is the rulebook that artisanal and small-scale mining organizations follow to sell certified gold. It sets binding requirements on mercury, safety,
The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) is the Colombian nonprofit that created the Fairmined Standard and has worked with artisanal and small-scale gold miners for
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
At around 4,700 meters in Peru’s Andes, where alpaca herding was the traditional way to make a living, ten cooperatives mine gold together as CECOMSAP.
In the green hills of Huila, Colombia, coffee farmers go underground to mine gold – under the Fairmined Standard, every year since 2014. Their cooperative
