December 11, 2016
On December 11, the "Hope over Fear" exhibition took place in Oslo, as a follow-up of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony through which Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded. One of the main shows of the event was the Colombian singer Juanes.
One of the special guest of the event was Daniel Riascos, a miner and director of the Coodmilla, an artisanal mining cooperative located in Nariño (Colombia). Mr. Riascos was invited by Samlerhuset Group and The Mint of Norway, in conjunction with the Alliance for Responsible Mining, in order to represent artisanal small-scale miners from the cooperatives of Iquira and Coodmilla, where was extracted the Fairmined Responsible Gold used to make the Nobel Medal.
One of the most symbolic moments of the night was when Mr. Riascos met the President Santos, who congratulated him for its work and efforts in order to extract Responsible Gold (free of Mercury and certified by the Fairmined Standard), and Mr Riascos also congratulated the president and he gave him and the First Lady as a symbolic gift, a little dove made in Fairmined Gold.
This is what Daniel had to say about the meeting:
“Everything was wonderful, the exhibition and the concert. I was given the opportunity to meet with the president and hand him over a small gift, one for him and one for the first lady, from all the miners of the Coodmilla Cooperative. The meeting with the president was short but I was so happy in this moment because Coodmilla came so far, it was a historic moment for the small miners of our municipality and I felt proud to be able to represent those miners who want to do things well. It was short but very meaningful to me.
The Nobel Peace Prize demonstrates that Colombia can accomplish great things. Congratulations to president Santos and this historical success, as well as to the certified mines from La Llanada and Iquira who provided the gold for the medal.”
Ole Bjørn Fausa, owner of the Samlerhuset Group and the Norwegian Mint:
“The initiative and collaboration with ARM is more than just the Peace Prize medal or our own business. We want a harder look to be taken at what gold is used by the coin and medal industry and encourage more and more players to make use of Fairmined certified gold from small mines. In this way, the working conditions can gradually be improved for the miners and the environment can be properly managed,” says Ole Bjorn Fausa.
Yves Bertran, CEO, the Alliance for Responsible Mining
“This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is a double win for Colombia and an important recognition of those miners who make a huge effort to produce gold in a responsible way. The initiative also shows that it is possible to source certified gold that is traceable from small-scale mines, having a positive impact on local mining communities. Responsible mining can play an important part in the Colombian peace process, especially in rural areas. We are very thankful to The Norwegian Mint and Samlerhuset for helping us to raise awareness on the issues in artisanal and small-scale mining and in supporting us to bring positive change to the industry. They are setting a strong example which we hope others will follow.” Yves Bertran, ARM’s Executive Director.