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Demanding Change
Residents of Esquel protest against Meridian's mine proposal. Credit: Lucas Chiappe | Where does the gold in your jewelry or computer chip come from? Most retailers and manufacturers can't say. Without this information, consumers will never know if the gold they buy came from a mine that dumps toxic waste in rivers, violates workers' rights, digs up wilderness areas, or evicts communities under the threat of violence.
The No Dirty Gold campaign is calling on retailers to identify and disclose the source of the gold they sell-and to ensure that jewelry, watches, cell phones, computer chips, and other products do not contain gold mined at the expense of communities, workers and the environment. Currently, retailers and consumers do not have an alternative to dirty gold.
Use your consumer power!
Sign the No Dirty Gold consumer pledge. Your signature will help us convince retailers, manufacturers and mining companies that consumers want to see real changes in the mining industry--and an alternative to irresponsibly mined metals.
Towards a saner strategy
The No Dirty Gold campaign is asking retailers to sign on to the Golden Rules, which are social, human rights, and environmental criteria for more responsible mining of gold and other precious metals.
The Golden Rules call on mining companies to meet the following basic standards in their operations:
- 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
The reforms called for by the campaign are reasonable and fair, and well within the capacity of mining companies to implement. For more information, check out the recommendations of Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities and the Environment.
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