The collaboration between the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) and the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has been evaluated in the case study research “Leveraging greater impact of mineral sustainability initiatives: an assessment of interoperability”. The report result was positive, highlighting the mutual support for the development and improvement of both organizations’ standards. The academic investigation was conducted by the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining of the Sustainable Minerals Institute of Queensland University (Australia). The researchers, Renzo Mori Junior, Kathryn Sturman and Jean-Pierre Imbrogiano included ARM and RJC in the investigation because of their collaboration that started in 2011 with the first Memorandum of Understanding, where the organizations decided to work together to advance shared objectives of improving artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) practices and increasing market access for ASM gold.
The researchers interviewed representatives of both organizations, accredited auditors by RJC and ARM and companies that participate in both initiatives. The interoperability research highlights the main drivers for the collaboration which are “similarity between systems and goals, increase reach and reduce audit overlapping”. “Leadership, access to market, cost reduction and internal processes and systems improvement” are highlighted as main achievements of the cooperation process.
RJC and ARM collaborate to avoid the duplication of efforts. In 2014, RJC recognized the Fairmined Standard as a Responsible Mining Standard under the RJC Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard for precious metals. Furthermore, the organizations developed a joint audit pilot project. Positive outcomes from these projects boost the continuity of the collaborative initiative.
Conclusions for the success of interoperability initiatives
The report seeks to help different actors to coordinate efforts to drive improvement and mutual support in sustainability initiatives. Some of the literal conclusions that are highlighted:
“Similarity between systems and goals, increased reach and reduced audit overlapping were the topics most often mentioned by participants as the drivers for the RJC and ARM-Fairmined interoperability project.”
“In relation to the benefits, participants mentioned leadership, access to market, internal processes and systems improvement and cost reduction as the main benefits of such a project. It is important to highlight here the important work conducted to develop and implement the combined Fairmined and RJC CoC audit project.”
“Having common goals was considered the first step for any type of successful collaboration. A credible and strong certification system was considered equally important. Participants stated that having a strong system and a robust governance structure in place, as well as a good reputation, are crucial conditions to develop collaboration and interoperability projects with other initiatives.”
In addition, the report points out innovative collaboration opportunities regarding traceability, based on ARMs traceability system which “automatically tracks Fairmined gold from the mining site to the final consumer through the whole supply chain”.
The report is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Sector Project Extractives and Development, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
RJC y ARM continue collaborating and considering actions to enable their relation expansion. As an example, each organization takes part of their Standards committees to share opportunities and challenges from different perspectives. Both consider that cooperation is a success element that seeks to benefit companies who are fulfilling the standards demands.