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ARM at the fair-trade seminar at Las Vegas Jewellery
Show
Date: June 2009
Source: ARM
Patrick Schein, ARM board member, shares advances on the Fair Trade
Standard Zero in this session organized by Martin Rapapport.
Download
presentation (English Only)
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Invitation to comment on ICMM's Indigenous Peoples
& Mining Good Practice Guidance (GPG)
Date: June 2009
Source: ICMM
The comment period is open from July 10th until Thursday August 20th
2009. The current draft is the result of extensive comments on an earlier
draft by representatives of ICMM’s member companies and from an
independent expert Advisory Group. Please email your comments to Aidan
Davy (
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) or Claire White (
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).
Download the Guide (English Only)
GPG
Indigenous Peoples - Draft 2.pdf
IP
Position Statement.pdf
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The failing battle against blood diamonds
Date: June 2009
Source: The Globe and Mail One of the leading architects
of the international battle against “blood diamonds” has
quit the global scheme that was supposed to solve the problem, calling
it an inept and failing process. The process, he says, has failed to
tackle the growing bloodshed that surround diamonds in countries such
as Zimbabwe, where more than 200 people were reportedly killed by the
military when it seized control of diamond fields last fall, and in
Angola, where thousands of small-scale Congolese miners were beaten
and expelled.
More
Information (English Only)
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The search for lasting solutions to a deadly trade
Date: July 2009
Source: Mining Weekly Ever since the global financial
crisis hit the mining industry, a dramatic decline in the demand for
commodities and the closure of certain operations have seen an increase
in the illegal mining trade in Africa, with a drastic record of illegal
miner deaths.
More
Information (English Only)
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Sustainable Mining: Oxymoron or New Reality?
Date: July 2009
Source: Easier
The report examines how an industry whose stock-in-trade is to extract
finite resources from the earth's crust yearns to be recognized as "sustainable",
and many of its higher-profile companies have rolled out new, sophisticated
policies and operational systems.
More Information (English Only):
http://www.easier.com/view/Finance/Investments/Funds/article-257571.html
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Chilean Mining Minister Launches Millionaire Program
to Promote Atacama
Date: July 2009
Source: Portal Minero As an incentive to small-scale
mining the authorities and representatives of mining associations from
Copiapó and Tierra Amarilla qualified the support program which
invests 500 million pesos for artisanal mining and whose goal is for
miners to run projects aimed at labor development, including management
support, working capital and equipment.
More
information
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Gold Fever Resurrects; the Metal’s Price
Incites New Projects, but Also Informal Mining in Colombia
Date: July 2009
Source: El Tiempo The
911 dollar estimate abroad; the improvements in security conditions,
and recent promising findings, such as La Colosa, in Cajamarca (Colombia),
have unleashed a new trend. The previews have caused at least 50 companies
from different nationalities to start exploration projects on national
territory. But at the same time, an informality trend at road sides
and rivers has been generated.
More
information
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Ethical jewels
Date: May 2009
Source: The Telegraph
Change is happening in the jewellery industry. What
was the least ethical area of the luxury business, is transforming.
For example, In Colombia, indigenous mining communities united in both
saving their rainforest environment and their livelihoods. Oro Verde
uses no harmful chemicals and the miners receive a fair wage.
More
Information (English Only)
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Peruvian government steps back and parcially suspends norm
against artisanal mining
Date: June 2009
Source: Los Andes
Because of the artisanal miners’ pressure and to avoid major
social conficts in the country, the Executive suspended for 60 days
various articles that sanctioned the supposed infractions of artisanal
and small mining. They are a part of the Law of Formalization and Promotion
of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining.
More
Information
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Ghana’s government designates 66 mining areas for
ASMs to operate
Date: May 2009
Source: Ghana Web
In order to improve the ASM operations and to avoid mining in inadequate
areas and pollution of the environment, the government continues to
offer assistance to the sector to shape its activities to acceptable
standards.
More
Information (English Only)
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Ethical corporation institute reveals that consumers are
still putting ethics first
Date: June 2009
Source: Ghana Web
Ethical Corporation Institute (ECI) has found the current economic
climate is having little effect on consumer desires to be ethical. Demand
for production certified by organisations like the Rainforest Alliance
and Fairtrade is soaring in 2009. We can expect further growth in the
market for industry standards and certification.
More
Information (English Only) |
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Peruvian Ministry
of Energy and Mines (MEM) works to formalise ASM
Date: May 2009
Source: Andina
MEM is developing a plan to strengthen ASM in Ica, Arequipa, Ayacucho,
Puno, Madre de Dios and Piura. The plan’s aim is that ASM activities
are acknowledged as a way to generate jobs and to encourage the country’s
sustainable development.
More
information
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Survey
Responsible luxury: don't you care?
Date:
May 2009
Source: Raphaël Favre
Your participation is really important: your knowledge
and your experience are deeply valuable! The aim of this survey is to
understand the current Social Responsibility of luxury companies and
to understand how to better develop Corporate Social Responsibility
in the luxury and cosmetic industry.
More
Information (English Only) |
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Where sweatshops are a dream
Date: January 2009
Source: The New York Times
An ethical dilemma rises, when the sweatshops are criticised.
As bad as the conditions are, these are sometimes the only option for
people to make a living. “Talk to these families in the dump,
and a job in a sweatshop is a cherished dream, an escalator out of poverty”.
However, the necessity for the creation of jobs at industries is a priority.
More
Information (English Only)
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Historic treaty to tackle toxic heavy metal mercury
gets green light
Date: February 2, 2009
Source: UNEP
A global crackdown on the poisonous pollutant mercury
was agreed by environment ministers at the end of the UN Environment
Programme's (UNEP) Governing Council. The landmark decision, taken by
over 140 countries, sets the stage for the lifting of a major health
threat from the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
More
Information (English Only)
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ARM @ Baselworld 2009
Date: March, 2009
Source: Rapaport Fair Trade
Attending an invitation to the Rapaport Fair Trade
Conference, Gold Trader and ARM Board Member, Patrick Schein, discussed
with ethical jewellers the challenges facing artisanal miners in the
developing world, and how "Standard Zero" for Fairtrade certified
gold is playing a role in changing the lives of mining communities.
See
ARM’s presentation (7.27 MB - English Only)
More
Information
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Fairtrade The New Gold Standard
Date: February 28, 2009
Source: The Independent, UK
We have had bananas, coffee, and tea but now the latest
Fairtrade product is ethical gold. Gold miners have jobs that are among
the most arduous in the world. To this issue, The Fairtrade Foundation
has developed a project with ARM, the Alliance for
Responsible Mining, which aims to improve the living standards for miners
as well as reducing the use of mercury to extract gold from ore.
More
Information
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Greenland’s Apartheid Rubies
Date: April 16, 2009
Source: The Epoch Times, UK
Greenland is facing a difficult times because mining
industries have moved their sight there for new sources of rubies, sapphires
and others. However, native people rights are not being protected. Unfortunately
legislation was developed to take ASM away from the mineral resources
in Greenland, which by colonial law, belong to Denmark.
The article examines this controversial situation.
More Information
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Peru: Bailout of Mining Co.
Eclipses Environmental Disaster
Date: March 14, 2009
Source: IPS
The Peruvian government refused to bail out the U.S. mining and metallurgical
company Doe Run, which has caused severe pollution in the highlands
city of La Oroya, from its severe financial troubles.
More
Information
Other views:
http://www.cooperaccion.org.pe/modulo/boletin/detalle.php?IdArticulo=0513&Seccion=Nhttp://www.cooperaccion.org.pe/modulo/boletin/detalle.php?IdArticulo=0435&Seccion=O
http://www.elcomercio.com.pe/noticia/269690/doe-run-libera-oroya-mas-arsenico-lo-que-emite-eeuu |
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The call is open for networks and projects of
the Area 3 of the CYTED about Promotion of Industrial
Development.
Date: March 2009
Source: CYTED
Starting from April 1st through the 30th day of the
same month, the call is open of Area 3 of the CYTED. In this area,
line 3 of industrial processes has as its general objective to foster
sustainable competitiveness in the industrial and artisanal sector,
through the modernisation of its productive processes. In a complementary
manner, line 4 of the mining industry and its materials has as its main
goal the optimisation of the mining industry and of inorganic materials,
privileging small and middle-sized businesses.
More Information |
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No more dirty gold: Your “Green”
Gold options.
Date: March 2009
Source: The Green Connoisseur
Gold is a timeless luxury that has been valued throughout
civilization; unfortunately, almost all of the gold produced in the
world is “dirty gold”. Luckily there are those who have
been working for years to change that, and their efforts are starting
to come to fruition. Oro Verde and Ethical Bullion, working as partners
with ARM, are the first of its kind to verify that
100% of the gold it produces is based on fair-trade.
More
Information (English only)
Related links:
http://www.greengold-oroverde.org/
http://www.credjewellery.com/ |
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Zimbabwe's blood diamonds, world diamond regulators
flounder, UN action required.
Date: February 2009
Source: PAC
Diamonds have become a major factor in Robert Mugabe's
desperate attempt to retain power in Zimbabwe. Diamond smuggling has
become rampant and dozens of diamond miners have been murdered by the
military, which now controls the country's main diamond fields. The
horrors behind Zimbabwe's diamonds are the subject of a new report released
today by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC): Zimbabwe,
Diamonds and the Wrong Side of History. The PAC report describes
the role that diamonds are playing in Zimbabwe's growing misery, and
says that the Kimberley Process, the 45-government international diamond
regulatory body created to end conflict diamonds, is unwilling and unable
to deal with the problem.
More
Information (English only)
Other perspectives (English only)
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-05/2007-05-23-voa63.cfm
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/04/world/fg-diamonds4
http://www.globalwitness.org
http://www.modernghana.com |
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NGO engages with corporate partners over illegal
mining.
Date: January 16th, 2009
Source: Mining Weekly
Social development nongovernmental organisation Pact-Congo
is finding ways to reduce conflicts associated with the complex issue
of artisanal mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Together
with corporate partners and donors, such as the United States Agency
for International Development and the International Finance Corporation,
Pact-Congo has been undertaking a series of projects in the Katanga
copperbelt, in the DRC. This form of cooperation may represent an important
potential for ASM transformation around the world.
More
information
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Mercury in gold mining: a third world toxic
threat.
Date: January 10, 2009
Source: International Herald Tribune
Small-scale gold mining is the second-worst source
of mercury pollution in the world after the burning of fossil fuels.
The U.N. has spent $7 million in six countries to educate miners
and gold shops about mercury. The European Union agreed earlier this
year to ban mercury exports from 2011. USA approved a bill which bans
all elemental mercury exports by 2013).
More
information (English Only) |
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Ongoing efforts to address mercury as a global
pollutant
Date: March 2009
Source: UNEP and the Global Mercury Partnership
Efforts are underway under the coordination of UNEP
through the Global Mercury Partnership to address mercury pollution
in mining and other industries. ARM is a member of this partnership
and is working with responsible artisanal and small scale miners to
reduce and mitigate the use of mercury in gold mining through a Fairtrade
certification label for responsible ASM.
More
Information (English Only) |
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ARM’s Standard Zero for
Fairtrade Artisanal Gold addresses the use of mercury in ASM.
ARM´s Standard Zero addresses key issues for
mercury reduction such as: no whole-ore amalgamation, compulsory
use of retorts or other mercury recovery devices, a ecological premium
for gold produced without mercury or cyanide and under stringent ecological
restoration practices, as well as a progressive quality improvement
process at ASM certified mines.
More Information: Links
to Standard Zero 2008
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New mining law approved with
50 votes in Ecuador
Date: January 14 th , 2009
Source: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
In spite of the fact that the law does not have an organic nature, the
final disposition contemplates that it will “prevail” over others and
may only be reformed by another law. This law establishes that 50 per
cent of royalties or dividends that mining projects return will go to
the hands of the State, which contrasts with the fear of indigenous
groups, who warned that the law was going to place this item at 5 per
cent.
More
information
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Vivien Johnston, founder of
Fifi Bijoux, a Responsible Jewellery Shop from UK,
and ARM member, is featured on Elle Magazine
Date: February 2009
Date: Elle Magazine
In response to the so-called “blood diamonds”, which have for years
financed wars in Africa, independent jewellers and large retail houses
are seeking options to guarantee that their diamonds follow ethical,
social and environmental standards. Among these initiatives is the Kimberley
process which demands from exporting countries that they be free from
conflict. Elle Magazine highlights the growing awareness of several
actors, among them is that of Vivien Johnston, a member of the Alliance
for Responsible Mining, ARM.
See article
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World Diamond Council demands urgent review
of Zimbabwe 's diamonds following violence at mines.
Date: January 12th, 2009
Source:
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
The World Diamond Council is demanding an urgent inquiry into the Zimbabwean
diamond industry. This is amid the violence on that country's diamond
fields, alleged diamond smuggling. In an attempt to combat illegal trade,
Zimbabwean security forces by the end of last year had driven 35.000 illegal
diggers and dealers from the Chiadzwa diamond field. Diamond newsletter
Rapaport announced that about 200 people had died in the fray.
More
information |
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Fair trade strives for a change
in practices in the tea industry
Despite being a very demanding process in its implementation, fair trade
is struggling for a solid change that would benefit workers in the tea
industry. Labour exploitation and other social problems are the objective
of the change that the fair trade movement generates.
More
information (in English only) |
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The ethical market in the
United Kingdom reaches £35 billion
The current bleak situation does not seem to be affecting the ethical
market in the United Kingdom, according to the Co-operative Bank. As
stated in the institution’s last report, this market grew 15%
over the past 12 months. The latter is the result of the “green”
legislation and the shift in consumer decisions that favour the positive
trend of several products.
More
information (in English only) |
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ARM
is recognised as a participant in the ISEAL Emerging Initiatives program
for the development of standards
Date: October 30 2008
Source: http://www.isealalliance.org/
The ISEAL Alliance leads a programme of support to organisations
with new initiatives in the creation of standards and that
will generate a meaningful impact, with certification schemes and labels
that consumers can trust. Twenty-two new initiatives from different
sectors have formally expressed a desire to participate ???????7?????????
in the ongoing training and capacity building programme. Participants
include The Carbon Trust, The Climate Group, BioTrade, the Better Cotton
Initiative, the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council and the Association
for Responsible Mining. |
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The
Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) announced the release of its Standards
& Guidelines for Sierra Leone’s Artisanal Diamond Mining Sector
Date: May 20 2008
Source: DDI International
The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) aims to gather organisations
and social investors in the development field into a process
that will address the challenges facing the artisanal diamond mining
sector in order to optimize the beneficial development impact and help
bring the informal diamond mining sector into the for???????7?????????
mal economy.Complete text of standards and guidelines. |
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Ghana:
NGOs say mining companies have impeded food production, and led to serious
human rights abuses by the military
Date:
May 2008
Source: Business &
Human Rights Resource
Reports from mining communities experiencing human rights violations indicate
a high degree of complicity on the part of multinational mining
companies. In many cases mining companies' private security
staff have played a leading role.
The report mentions AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont, Red Back Mining and Bogoso
Gold Limited (part of Golden Stars Resources). The Business and Human
Rights Resource Centre has invited these companies to respond. |
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NGOs
call for Venezuela's expulsion from the Kimberley Process
Date: July 6 2008
Source: Global Witness
Venezuela undermines efforts to control conflict diamonds. Venezuela
has been a charter member of the Kimberley Process (KP) since its inception
in 2003, but has submitted no statistical information since the first
quarter of 2005 and no annual reports. Civil society members of the
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for rough diamonds are calling
for Venezuela’s immediate expulsion from the 75-government system
intended to end the trade in conflict diamonds.
See
the full English version of the report |
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Master's Degree in Environmental
Management
Fecha: May 2008
Fuente: Andes University
Universidad de los Andes announces its Master's
Degree in Environmental Management. The program provides training
for managers and other senior-level staff of organisations responsible
for environmental protection and conservation concerned to achieve optimal
environmental impact.
Dowload
prospectus
Contact Information
Los Andes University School of Management.
Phone 57 1 3 32 41 44
e-mail :
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