Ethical gold

Ethical gold, also known as fair-mined gold by refiners, jewellers and end users, refers to gold that is mined, processed, and traded under strict operational standards. It seeks to address unsafe working conditions, exploitation of labour such as child labour, forced labour, corruption, land dispossession, environmental destruction, mercury pollution, and financing of violent conflict. Ethically-mined or fair-mined gold are certified by independent organisations for easy identification in the gold value chain. However, there is no single universally accepted certification that guarantees ethical gold - instead, it relies on several international guidelines, industry standards, certification schemes and initiatives intended to improve the social, environmental and economic conditions under which gold is produced and traded.

Background

Gold is a precious metal used in jewellery, religious objects, electronics, dentistry, medicine, other industrial applications and serves as a medium of exchange and a store of wealth. The economic importance of gold has continued to encourage its mining and investment across numerous regions.

For centuries, gold mining has been associated with geopolitical friction, colonial exploitation and environmental degradation. In the modern era, the relationship between gold mining and insecurity is a serious concern for governments, civil-society organisations, international institutions and responsible-investment advocates.

The term ethical gold emerged in efforts to address these concerns by encouraging mining companies, manufacturers, refiners, investors and consumers to consider not only the value and purity of gold but also the circumstances of its production. The campaign for ethical gold mining emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the founding of organisations and initiatives such as the Alliance for Responsible Mining founded (2004) the Responsible Jewelry Council comprising 14 independent organisations (2005), and The Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold Standard (2011).

Mining

Gold mining is the extraction of gold-bearing minerals and deposits from the Earth's crust and recovering the metal from different geological environments, including quartz veins, hydrothermal deposits, ancient river channels, modern river sediments, weathered rock formations, and mineralised zones deep underground. These variations in geological occurrence determine the methods used to extract it.

Gold mining is generally divided into two broad categories based on the scale of operation, technology, capital investment, and organization. These categories are artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and industrial gold mining.

Artisanal gold mining operation is performed by individuals or small groups using mostly manual labour, simple tools, and limited financial resources. When operations employ more equipment and organisation but remain relatively small in scale, they are often described as small-scale gold mining operations.

The combined term artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is widely used because the distinction between artisanal and small-scale operations varies among countries. Artisanal mining is common in rural areas where gold deposits are easily accessible. It may operate legally under small-scale mining permits or informally outside established regulatory systems. Artisanal and small-scale miners are vulnerable to exploitation due to lack of legal recognition, access to finance, geological knowledge, appropriate equipment, or access to formal markets. In some areas, criminal networks or armed groups impose payments or control access to mining sites and trading channels.

Industrial gold mining is the large-scale, capital-intensive extraction and processing of gold using specialised machinery, advanced engineering, and organised production systems. It is commonly operated by mining companies with substantial financial resources, technical expertise, and formal management structures.

Industrial mining can involve open-pit or underground extraction, depending on the geological characteristics of the deposit. It often includes extensive exploration, mine planning, ore processing, waste management, transport infrastructure, and environmental monitoring. Although industrial mining is generally more technologically advanced than artisanal operations, it can also produce large environmental impacts because of the volumes of rock and ore extracted and processed, and the reliance on non-renewable energy.

Social and environmental issues

Human rights abuses

Gold mining is associated with serious human-rights violations. Local communities and workers are exposed to coercion, violence, unsafe conditions, or the loss of their livelihoods without compensation.

In informal and small-scale mining, workers may face dangerous shafts, unstable tunnels, inadequate ventilation, limited protective equipment, and a lack of access to medical care. In many cases, under-age people are involved in hazardous gold mining or processing activities, while workers in poorly regulated operations may experience exploitation, wage theft, or forced labour.

In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) forced artisanal gold miners to work underground continuously for over a week at Lomera gold mine in South Kivu.  Miners are detained, tortured and summarily killed for acts considered by the rebels as disobedience. In 2005, a Human Rights Watch report titled The Curse of Gold detailed how local warlords and international companies committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by torturing, raping, killing and displacing local communities. In the southern Venezuela state of Bolívar, the armed group known as “syndicate” and a Colombian armed group operating in the region exercise control over gold mines, committing horrific human rights abuses against local communities including forced labour, amputation and displacement.

Economic exploitation and corruption

The gold supply chain involves miners, local traders, exporters, transporters, refiners, manufacturers, jewellers, and financial institutions. In opaque markets, the large number of intermediaries make it difficult to determine who produced the gold, who profited from its sale, and whether the transaction involved unlawful payments.

Corruption, bribery, tax evasion, smuggling, and money laundering deprive producing communities and countries of legitimate economic benefits. Miners receive prices that do not adequately reflect the value of their production or the costs of working safely.Ethical sourcing seeks to improve transparency, promote lawful taxation and trade, and establish commercial relationships that support legitimate livelihoods and local economic development.

Environmental degradation

When gold mining is poorly regulated or conducted with inadequate technical safeguards, it can cause substantial environmental degradation. Open-pit mining damage landscapes, removes vegetation, fragments habitats, and generates large quantities of waste rock. Underground mining can also create risks involving groundwater, subsidence, and contaminated mine drainage.

Gold processing may require chemicals to separate gold from ore. Mercury is widely used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining to amalgamate gold particles. Improper handling and release can contaminate air, soil and water, exposing miners and nearby populations to harmful substances. Mercury pollution is a recognised public-health and environmental concern. Cyanide is also used in certain industrial gold-processing operations. Where storage, transport, and waste management are inadequate, cyanide releases can threaten aquatic life and water resources.

Mining can also contribute to deforestation, sedimentation of rivers, biodiversity loss, and competition over land and water. Ethical gold initiatives emphasise environmental assessment, pollution prevention, responsible waste management, rehabilitation of mined land, and the reduction or elimination of hazardous practices where feasible.

During the 1800s, hydraulic gold mining in California washed over a billion cubic yards of earth, gravel, and toxic mercury downstream into rivers like the Yuba, Feather, and Sacramento. The practice left behind permanent landscape scars (such as Malakoff Diggins) and persistent mercury and sediment contamination that continues to affect California's waterways and ecosystems.

Ghana, the sixth-largest gold exporter, has suffered widespread environmental degradation caused by thousands of gold mining sites across the country. The increased use of mercury in the extraction of gold in forests and farms has polluted rivers, causing them to become so discoloured and thick that an artist was able to use it as paint to depict the environmental devastation.  Charity organisation WaterAid called it “ecocide”.

Campaign for ethical gold

There are several advocacy initiatives, public awareness programmes and responsible-sourcing efforts aimed at ensuring that gold is mined, processed, traded and used in ways that respect human rights, promote fair working conditions and minimise environmental damage. These initiatives emerged in response to concerns about unsafe mining practices, child labour, unfair compensation, environmental pollution, corruption and the financing of armed conflict through mineral trading. They seek to make gold supply chains more transparent and accountable while encouraging mining companies, jewellers, refiners, governments and consumers to adopt responsible practices.

In recent years, other programmes and partnerships broadened the focus to include traceability, decent work and mercury reduction. In 2018, the International Labour Organization reported the launch of Compassionate Gold in the Philippines to promote responsible small-scale mining and combat child labour.

Some of the other industry initiatives to establish standards for responsible gold mining and refining include:

No Dirty Gold Campaign

No Dirty Gold is a campaign co-launched in 2004 by charity organisation Oxfam America and Mineral Policy Center (since renamed Earthworks) to reform damaging gold mining practices and protect human rights and the environment. The campaign focuses on educating big luxury jewelry and watch brands and consumers using logical appeals about how a single 18-karat gold wedding band generate 20 tons of toxic mine waste. It mobilised activists for public demonstrations and distributed campaign materials on occasions such as Valentine’s Day with the slogan “Don’t tarnish your love with dirty gold”. The campaign introduced the “Golden Rules,” which outline corporate standards. In signing the Golden Rules, retailers pledge to source gold only from mining companies that respect human rights and the environment. Over 90 global luxury jewelry brands signed up, forcing major gold miners to take notice and adopt a more ethical mining practice.

Alliance for Responsible Mining

The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) was co-founded by Catalina Cock Duque in Colombia in 2004 to transform artisanal and small-scale mining into a responsible, formal, inclusive and economically viable sector. Its core approach combines practical support to mining communities, sustainability standards and certification, responsible market development, stronger governance and ensuring that mining generates better livelihoods and economic opportunities for workers, communities and the environment.

Responsible Jewelry Council

The Responsible Jewelry Council was founded in 2005 by 14 organisation, including De Beers, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, ABN AMRO, Jewelers of America and the UK's National Association of Goldsmiths – now with over 2,000 member companies across global jewelry and watch supply chain. Its Code of Practice is advancing ethical standards, responsible business practices and transparency through voluntary certification and a Chain of Custody Standard which defines requirements for responsible production, processing and trading. Its members are independently audited against the applicable standard.

The Fairtrade Gold and Fairmined Gold standard

The Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold standard was jointly developed in 2009 by Fairtrade International (FLO) and Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) before being launched in February 2011. It is reported to be the first independent third-party certification system for gold. Under the certification system, certified mining organisations received a Fairtrade Minimum Price proportional to the London Bullion Market Association price. These organisations also received a Premium, which they could decide democratically how to invest in community projects.

In order to receive Fairtrade or Fairmined certification, mining organisations are audited by global social auditing and certification body Flocert. Likewise, jewellers and traders seeking the license to use Fairtrade or Fairmined-certified gold are also audited by Flocert. For transaction traceability, Fairtrade and Fairmined-certified gold is documented and physically segregated in the supply chain from mine to refiner and licensed jeweller. The joint scheme ended in 2013, after which Fairtrade Gold and Fairmined became separate certifications.

The Ethical Jewelry Movement

The ethical jewellery movement emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, continuing to expand during the 2000s and 2010s with UK-based campaign group Fair Luxury largely leading the movement with its ethical jewellery conferences. A manifesto co-written by Fair Luxury members Arabel Lebrusan (Lebrusan Studio) and Anna Loucah in 2024 established the fundamentals of the ethical jewellery movement, addressing the environmental, social and human rights impacts of precious metal and gemstone extraction.

The most notable achievement of the ongoing movement is the mainstream standardisation of supply chain traceability and transparency, as represented by the introduction of the Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold certification standard in February 2011, which established an independent certification framework for responsibly produced gold.

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