By Ronit Scheyer

 

The value of gold has stood firm and unrivaled for centuries. However, a realization is emerging that not everything that glistens is good. As concern for the environment increases, so too does the consciousness that modern gold mining is a destructive practice that wreaks havoc on ecosystems and indigenous communities throughout the world.

Eighty percent of all gold that is mined is used in the jewelry industry. This sector is especially profitable, as gold jewelry normally sells for four times more than the actual value of the gold it contains. Despite the attractive cost benefits, however, is the stark fact that the production of a single 18 karat gold ring, for example, which weighs less than an ounce, generates at least 20 tons of mine waste.

Two-thirds of newly-mined gold is taken from open pit mines, enormous holes in the ground, created by mining companies that find it cheaper to blast fissures in the earth rather than to construct and maintain underground mines. The waste rock from these pits is highly toxic to both humans and the environment. It contains heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, selenium and mercury and is left to sit in enormous piles, some of which can reach heights of 100 meters.

After extraction, piles of ore are sprayed with cyanide, in a process called cyanide, or heap, leaching. (Cyanide is so toxic that a rice grain- sized drop can be fatal to humans; cyanide concentrations of 1 microgram (one-millionth of a gram) per liter of water can be fatal to fish.) The resulting cyanide-gold compound is sent to a mill, where the gold and the cyanide are chemically separated. The cyanide left over from the process is stored in specially-constructed ponds for reuse. Given that this process usually takes months or years, contamination of and damage to the surrounding environment is almost inevitable. The gold is then sent to a smelting and refining center, where enormous amounts of energy, usually by using fossil fuels, are expended to remove impurities from the metal. (The mining process is detailed in the report Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities and the Environment, published by the environmental and social-justice organizations Earthworks and Oxfam America.)

In 2004, Earthworks and Oxfam America, having recognized the harm that gold mining causes, launched the No Dirty Gold consumer campaign, which is designed to engender changes in the gold mining industry.

Its objective is to highlight the way in which gold is produced, from the mines through the processing plants and to call upon the mining industry to provide alternatives to what they view as irresponsibly-mined gold. According to Payal Sampat, international campaign director for Earthworks, “Our goal is to see meaningful changes in mining practices that will improve conditions on the ground for communities and ecosystems affected by mining.”

The campaign launch was strategically placed just before Valentine’s Day, one of the biggest days for gold jewelry retail sales. Between February 11 and 14, activists distributed Valentine’s Day cards with the message, “Don’t tarnish your love with dirty gold” in front of major jewelry and watch stores, including Cartier’s and Piaget’s on 5th Avenue in midtown New York City, and around busy Metro stations, including several in Boston and Washington, D.C. Additionally, the campaign released the Dirty Metals report that details the pollution, health effects, dangers to workers and, in many cases, human rights abuses that have become hallmarks of gold and metals mining around the world.

In October of the same year, students at Yale University joined the campaign by setting up a booth and passing out pledge cards with the slogan “Cyanide. Pollution. Human rights abuse. That’s not so classy, is it?” across from stands set up by class ring retail giants Jostens, American Achievement Corporation (AAC) and Herff-Jones. Cards signed by interested students were sent to campaign headquarters. As a testament to the campaign’s success, Jostens has since agreed to abide by the Golden Rules.

The campaign targets consumers and retailers by educating them about the effects of irresponsible gold mining and enlisting support from jewelers to reform harmful mining practices.

Says Sampat, “We would like to see a time in the not-too-distant future when a consumer can walk into a store and buy jewelry that is independently certified as responsibly produced, knowing that people and the environment have not been harmed to produce that piece of jewelry…The campaign is not a boycott of gold, but rather, an effort to clean up ‘dirty’ gold mining practices.”

 

Helen DaSilva, press officer of Oxfam America, says it is a very timely issue and one that buyers are concerned about. “Consumers want to know where the products they purchase come from.” Iftwo pieces of jewelry are listed at the same price, but one was created at the probable expense of communities and ecosystems and the other was fashioned “in a more responsible way," according to DaSilva, most consumers would opt for the latter.

On the retail side, No Dirty Gold has enlisted support for its cause through its Golden Rules criteria. As of July 2007, there were 24 retailers on the list of those who have pledged to support the Golden Rules, representing more than 22 percent of the entire U.S. jewelry market and totaling more than 12 billion in annual sales. The list includes some very visible retailers, including Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Wal Mart and Zale Corp. “This sends a clear signal to the marketplace – that leading retailers and consumers alike support cleaner gold,” says Sampat.

 

The standards these jewelry companies have committed to uphold consist of very real regulations such as respect for human and workers’ rights, informed consent of affected communities and assurance that mining projects do not force communities from their lands, and environmental considerations such as not dumping mine waste into bodies of water, ensuring that projects are not located in protected areas or fragile ecosystems, and fully disclosing and allowing independent verification of the social and environmental effects of the projects.

 

“There is clearly a strong demand in the marketplace for more ethically produced jewelry, as well as a real need to improve conditions on-the-ground in mining affected regions,” says Sampat. “I think these are important factors driving the effort to clean up dirty gold mining practices.”

 

In 2006, eight of the world’s biggest jewelry retailers – the Zale Corp., the Signet Group (theparent firm of Sterling and Kay Jewelers), Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, and Van Cleef & Arpels – all of whom had previously committed themselves to sourcing more responsibly-mined gold and upholding the Golden Rules, were praised in a full-page ad in The New York Times listing the retailers who had joined the No Dirty Gold Campaign and the “laggards” who had not. The ad urged consumers to ask their favorite jeweler what they’re doing to support responsible gold mining and ended by saying, “If they haven’t added their name to the growing list of leading retailers, you can take your business elsewhere.” The “laggards” included names such as Rolex, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer Jewelers, JC Penney, QVC and Whitehall Jewellers. Following a successful ad campaign and consumer pressure all of these jewelers have since joined No Dirty Gold.

 

This year, retail giant Target has been singled out as one whose “gold policy is off the mark.” In order to change this, the campaign is trying to put pressure on Target by urging consumers to call Target’s jewelry department managers, asking them to ensure that they are not selling “dirty gold,” mention other retailers who have joined the campaign and urge Target to do the same. Only time will tell whether Target agrees to source more responsibly-mined gold, but fortunately, the fact that Target has not joined the campaign is more of an exception among top U.S. jewelry retailers rather than a pattern, says Sampat.

 

There is no doubt that change will take time, but No Dirty Gold’s organizers, including Helen DaSilva, are optimistic about its success. “The campaign has made incredible strides in the few years it has been up and running. This is an issue that is at the forefront of what’s going on in the industry, and I am very optimistic about what [it] has accomplished and what it can continue to accomplish.”

The Golden Rules

 

• Respect for basic human rights outlined in

international conventions and law

• Free, prior, and informed consent of affected communities

• Safe working conditions

• Respect for workers’ rights and labor standards (including the eight core ILO conventions)

• Ensure that operations are not located in areas of armed or militarized conflict

• Ensure that projects do not force communities off their lands

• No dumping of mine wastes into the ocean, rivers, lakes, or streams

• Ensure that projects are not located in protected areas, fragile ecosystems or other areas of high conservation or ecological value

• Ensure that projects do not generate sulfuric acid in perpetuity

• Cover all costs of closing down and cleaning up mine sites

• Fully disclose information about social and environmental effects of projects

• Allow independent verification of the above