@Ronald de Hommel – Kani Camara
Envigado, May 2
An estimated 20 million people in the developing world make their living through artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), contributing to the livelihoods of over 100 million people. Yet the industry suffers from widespread informality and limited resources for professionalization and technical support. As a result, this economic activity is often linked to challenging social and environmental concerns, including unsafe working conditions, exacerbation of gender inequity, forced and child labor, and health impacts on local communities and ecosystems from improperly managed extraction techniques. Many who wish to improve their practices are prevented by the necessary investment in the training or technology to do so, or a lack of access to services due to their informal status. Although many artisanal miners wish to become formal, they are often stymied by opaque and sometimes conflicting policies and processes at a national level, as well as the expense associated with formalization.
The informality of the industry – and the poverty of those who participate in it – has left artisanal miners vulnerable to exploitation and marginalization. They often lack tools, information, and resources which limit their market access and negotiating power with local purchasers, limiting opportunities to improve their well-being or invest in better equipment. They may be dependent on predatory lenders in order to finance labor or equipment used in mineral exploration. Especially in conflict-affected and high risk areas, miners are vulnerable to exploitation by armed groups, militias, paramilitaries, and others engaged in illicit activity. Profits to such armed groups from these minerals further undermine the rule of law and stability, exacerbating and further entrenching the problem.
Many of these challenges could be significantly mitigated if miners had access to legitimate and fair creditors and customers. But until they can demonstrably meet minimum standards, such markets remain out of reach.
Market Perspective
Some responsible gold standards, such as Fairmined, go far beyond the requirements of these frameworks to certify gold from artisanal mining meeting elite environmental and social performance requirements. But the vast majority of artisanal miners in the world are unable to attain such certification without significant time, training, and investment.
Many industry leaders have expressed interest in contributing to the economic and social development of mining communities while opening new sources of gold for the market and enabling improved performance of the artisanal mining sector. However, a standardized and efficient mechanism, combined with capacity building, is necessary to viably manage the risks associated with purchasing from this sector.
The proposed solution: A Market Entry Standard
While many artisanal mining cooperatives are not currently capable of meeting the advanced performance requirements of elite certification systems, an intermediary standard assessing essential due diligence practices and performance will establish an achievable benchmark for miner organizations and cooperatives to meet essential requirements of global industry, while identifying a pathway toward additional improvement and opportunity. Even without technical assistance, mining cooperatives could use such a standard as a checklist to inform the improvements needed to become acceptable to global markets. Downstream, companies and associations could use the standard to inform their sourcing policies and practices.
The Market Entry Standard will assume the OECD Due Diligence Guidance Annex II risks mitigation as a starting point but will also consider other elements of key importance identified in consultation with stakeholders. The Market Entry Standard will be developed through a solid, participatory, bottom-up and ISEAL compliant process, but with rapid implementation for early adopters through the Standard´s piloting as part of required consultation processes.
By establishing clear, appropriate, and widely-accepted criteria and processes – and by demonstrating their efficacy through pilots – the Market Entry Standard will reduce the cost and time required for upstream and downstream partners to conduct high quality due diligence on the ground and bring legal artisanal gold supply on the market. Such efficiencies will enable technical assistance organizations to provide services to a greater number of beneficiaries and allow donors to achieve greater impact with the same resources. As it will be an open source tool, it can serve as a blueprint for companies, development projects, and governments working with artisanal miners to tackle worst practices, improve market access and limit risks. It can also be incorporated into existing certification systems as an entry point, with clear and incremental benchmarks to access higher certifications and associated benefits, such as potential market premiums.
By July 2018, ARM and RESOLVE will produce a consulted draft of the Market Entry Standard and will pilot the standard at two mining sites in Colombia. Please find a detailed project summary and problem statement here.
As part of the consultation and stakeholder engagement process, ARM and RESOLVE will establish a Market Entry Standard Advisory Group to provide strategic advice to the implementing partners, and are seeking nominations. If you are interested please consult the Terms of Reference of the Advisory Group and Terms of Reference of the Standard Commitee.
For further information, please contact the Alliance for Responsible Mining (gro.s1777328478enime1777328478lbisn1777328478opser1777328478@sdra1777328478dnats1777328478) or RESOLVE (gro.v1777328478loser1777328478@yden1777328478nekt1777328478).