The toolkit that is now available in English, Spanish and French was developed by the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) in collaboration with Solidaridad and with financial support from Humanity United.
“The general informality of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector puts the workers at high risk of exploitation, slavery and dangerous conditions. With this toolkit, we want to give the stakeholders engaging with the sector a hands-on instrument to help miners get out of these situations,” said Deputy Director in ARM, Marcin Piersiak.
The Alliance for Responsible Mining and Solidaridad devised the toolkit to fill an information gap within the industry. It includes practical tools such as criteria for good practice in ASM mining, as well as guides and checklists for potential human rights abuses. Managers of companies buying gold will also be able to use it to check the source of their imported wares and understand the risks of human rights abuses.
The toolkit is based on 18 months of research and field-testing by the collaborators and draws specifically from the Fairmined Standard that was developed by the Alliance for Responsible Mining to promote responsible mining practices and miners’ access to fair markets.