| Tarnished Gold  Tarnished Gold? Assessing the jewelry industry's progress on ethical sourcing of metals
Updated version of 31 March 2010
From the Executive Summary:
Consumers have little reliable assurance about the origins of their jewelry purchases.
Do they contain gold from mines that destroyed rainforests or polluted fisheries with toxic chemicals?
Did they finance violent conflict or put workers' health at risk?
Or were they produced in ways that minimized environmental harm and protected human health?
There have been several steps in the right direction in the six years since the No Dirty Gold campaign was launched. Some jewelry retailers have taken some important steps towards sourcing precious metals responsibly and pushing the mining industry to mine responsibly. By signing the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules principles for responsible sourcing of precious metals, more than 60 jewelry companies have committed to switching to cleaner gold sources when available.
This report is an evaluation of the efforts made by jewelers towards responsible sourcing of precious metals. It is based on responses to a survey sent to the jewelers that had signed on to the Golden Rules by mid-February 2009 and to other large jewelry retailers who sold jewelry worth more than $100 million.
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