Blog
How You Can Drive Change in Mining: 5 Ways to Support ARM’s Work
Written by: Lucie LópezDid you know that around 200 million people depend on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) for their livelihoods? The minerals they produce have become essential in our everyday lives, sometimes without us even realizing it. They are found in...
The Alliance for Responsible Mining receives international recognition for its commitment to transitioning toward sustainable mining.
Bogotá, November 17, 2024 – The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) is proud to announce its selection as one of the beneficiaries of Scotiabank's 2024 Net-Zero Research Fund. This prestigious fund, which supports innovative research and initiatives related to...
Linking Processing Plants to Artisanal Miners: How to ensure that the sale of ore is fair and promotes responsible mining?
Written by: Dayron Monroy - Head of Standards and Certifications In this blog, I reflect on the conditions necessary for mineral processing plants to responsibly source raw ore from artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations. Typically, in this business...
ARM Joins 1% for the Planet: Advancing Sustainability and Empowering Artisanal Mining
For over two decades, the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) has been dedicated to transforming the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector into a socially and environmentally responsible industry. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for artisanal...
Fair Due Diligence for ASM: How can companies mitigate their ESG risks without excluding mining communities that need support to comply with standards?
Written by: Dayron Monroy - Head of Standards and CertificationsIn this blog, I reflect on the challenges faced by ARM in voluntarily implementing due diligence activities in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), so that mineral importing companies know how they...
Carbon Footprint in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM)
Written by: Jairo Cárdenas - Manager of Sustainability at ARM.Climate change represents one of the most urgent challenges that humanity faces. With the increasingly clear scientific evidence about the rise in global temperatures and extreme climate events each time...
The Challenges of Small-Scale Tin Mining in Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil
By: Víctor Hugo Pachas, Andean Region ManagerOctober 18th, 2023 Since our early days in school, we have heard about the Bronze Age, a period characterized by significant advancements in metallurgy throughout human history. Bronze, a blend of copper and tin, represents...
Deep dive on cooperative support – case studies from Inhambane, Tete and Zambezia in Mozambique
With an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people working in it, the artisanal and small-scale mining (MAPE) sector in Mozambique is responsible for a significant portion of the country’s mining output, especially for minerals like gold. However, the miners who are the backbone of the MAPE sector have been struggling to make the most out of the minerals and metals they extract.
Small-Scale Copper Mining in Peru: What Do We Know About It?
By: Victor Hugo Pachas, Andean Region Manager (Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador) Little is known about the dynamics of small-scale copper mining in Peru. State agencies fail to pay due attention to this activity as artisanal production of this mineral remains unrecorded,...
Structural challenges and contribution from ARM to the resilience of women miners in Burkina Faso
Since the pandemic of Covid-19, the economic resilience of mining communities in Burkina Faso has been strengthened with the implementation of several activities by the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), with particular attention to women in their communities, and the inequality and violence vectors that affect them.
Challenges of the new MINEM ASM policy in Peru
The National Multisectoral Policy for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) in Peru, which is valid until 2030, includes the contributions, expectations, and demands of the population who is dedicated to ASM activity in the country.
Due diligence risk management needs through CRAFT and Fairmined
The best way for mining companies that want to make a difference by giving a seal of responsible conduct and social purpose is to buy minerals from artisanal and small-scale mining
An overview of the Covid-19 pandemic effects on artisanal and small-scale mining sector
By: David Guzmán, Mercury and Processing Specialist at ARM March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization acknowledged SARS-CoV-2 (more commonly known as Covid-19) virus transmission as a pandemic. At that time, cases and casualties associated with the disease were...
PREPARING TO SUPPORT A JOURNEY TOWARDS EMPOWERMENT: Movement Building with Women Miners in Antioquia, Colombia
Since June 2020, the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) and MIT D-Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been working to develop the project “RISE: Resilient, Inclusive & Sustainable Environments – A challenge to address gender-based violence in the small-scale mining sector”
Economic reactivation in the context of Covid 19, sustainable development, and artisanal and small scale mining
The current situation around the world with Covid 19 has made us look into our own abilities to find alternatives as individuals, State institutions, companies, and organized civil society in order to get out of the crisis and turn unfavorable phenomena on economy, sustainable development, and social dynamics as a whole into opportunities. Such is the case of artisanal and small scale mining.
5 tips to improve reforestation and revegetation processes efficiency to face climate change
Within the potential of ASMs to make a contribution in the global climatic agenda, reforestation processes are of the utmost importance.
Small mining in Boyacá also reforests
A group of men and women miners in Paipa reforest an area of approximately 2500 square meters, with the company of Alliance for Responsible Mining and Gensa, participating in the project “Somos Tesoro” (We are a Treasure).
Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: Addressing Challenges in Global Supply Chains
The paper sheds light on the often inhumane working conditions within the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)sector, outlines the human rights related risks and therewith involved responsibilities of businesses, and addresses the challenges for companies resulting from ASM.
Mining by profession, criminal by social prejudice
Saving is our vehicle for investment. We can call it our financial instrument for purchasing equipment and machinery. It is the only financial instrument we have access to since in practice, it has been impossible to obtain credit from financial entities. It would be important to obtain it because we could leverage our growth and it would become a way to optimize our cash flow, but under the current conditions of stigmatization of mining and, more specifically, small-scale gold, it is impossible to obtain it.
Is recycled gold an ethical choice?
For more than a decade the jewellery industry has been promoting the use of recycled gold when referencing a responsible chains of custody (CoC) and a statement of provenance or traceability. So is this the best practice? If I use exclusively recycled gold for my jewels, am I responsible ? Let’s try to answer these questions.