“Aurum nostrum non est aurum vulgi.”
“Our gold is not the gold of the crowd,” the alchemists said, intent on a spiritual quest far bolder than transmuting base metals into bullion. Fairtrade Gold is physically the same glitter we dream of and wear, yet it holds a quality unlike any other: it is good.
Launched in 2011, Fairtrade Gold is the world’s first independent ethical-certification scheme for gold. In 2016 - under the name Maraismara - I introduced it to Italy, forging the country’s first Fairtrade-certified jewels.
Look for the Fairtrade mark hall-marked inside the jewel and the numbered tag that accompanies every piece.
Why “the most precious” gold?
Because it is not merely truly traceable; it is also a ladder.
Fairtrade Gold is designed to let miners lift themselves out of poverty through their own craft, leaving no wake of exploitation or contamination behind.
The steel punch used to stamp the Fairtrade hallmark on every jewel.
La realtà delle miniere artigianali
Most of the gold the jewellery industry demands is still dug from the earth; centuries-old cycles of scrap and recycling cover only a fraction of the need. Of this newly mined gold roughly four-fifths comes from heavily mechanised, high-impact Large-Scale Mining (LSM), while the remaining share is quarried by Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining (ASM).
- LSM is run by multinational corporations, uses explosives and open pits, and moves mountains with excavators.
- ASM is the opposite extreme: individuals, families, small co-ops working shallow deposits with picks, shovels and, at best, a portable pump. The labour is exhausting, informal and often a last resort for survival.
Because ASM miners sit at the very start of the supply chain, they are painfully exposed. They are typically paid up to 30 % below the London Bullion Market (LBMA) price—sometimes not enough to cover extraction costs, let alone feed their families.
For a deeper look, read the IGF report.
Fairtrade works shoulder-to-shoulder with marginalised ASM miners, helping them improve safety, livelihood and bargaining power.
Rudimentary tools, absent technology and a lack of safety measures make artisanal mining perilous. Mercury and cyanide - efficient but cheap solvents for gold recovery - are often used; mishandled, they wreak havoc on human health and the environment.
Because of limited know-how, marginal ore bodies and hand-sized claims, artisanal miners produce barely 15 % of the world’s newly dug gold, yet they make up an astonishing 90 % of the sector’s workforce.
[PHOTO: a miner bails water from a flooded, non-Fairtrade pit in Uganda – Ian Berry / Magnum]
What does “Fairtrade” mean?
Fairtrade (not “fair trade” or “Fair-trade”) is a worldwide organisation and ethical-certification mark created to help small, often marginalised producers reach a dignified livelihood - and their full potential - through trade. You see the mark on chocolate, coffee, bananas, tea, cotton, roses, sugar, gold, and many other products.
For every category there are rigorous, internationally agreed Fairtrade Standards that every actor in the supply chain must respect. They:
- ensure producers receive a Fairtrade Minimum Price, stable and aligned with real value;
- guarantee a Fairtrade Premium—an extra sum producers invest democratically in social, health, or business projects;
- prohibit child labour;
- require working conditions that respect human dignity;
- grant an additional premium for certified organic agriculture;
- provide pre-financing of harvests (or ore deliveries);
- establish direct, long-term trading relationships;
- safeguard the environment.
“Fairtrade Gold” is the term for gold that has been mined, refined and traded under the Fairtrade Precious Metals Standards, which guarantee:
- Minimum Price
Certified groups sell directly through transparent, long-term contracts instead of exploitative middlemen. The Fairtrade Minimum Price stands well above what marginal mines normally receive. - Premium
On top of the minimum, certified miners earn a Fairtrade Premium of US $ 2 000 per kilogram. Co-ops invest this extra income in better equipment and in community projects (schools, health posts, clean-water systems) building sustainable, lasting growth. - Stronger co-operatives
Miners organise into co-ops to negotiate fairer returns and regain control of the jewellery supply chain. Each co-op must channel part of its energy and funds into local social development. - No child labour
Nobody under 15 may work in a Fairtrade mine, and no one under 18 may perform hazardous tasks. - Safer working conditions
Protective gear and health-and-safety training are mandatory for every miner. - Freedom of association
Workers have the right to form or join unions and to bargain collectively. - Responsible chemicals management
Toxic reagents such as mercury and cyanide must be handled safely, reduced to the minimum and - wherever possible - eliminated within an agreed timeframe.
Fairtrade Gold is a quiet revolution in jewellery: it does more than record a metal’s journey - it stands guard at every step, policing the conditions under which that journey unfolds.
Every link in the Fairtrade Gold chain - mine, refinery, jeweller - holds a licence and undergoes regular, independent audits, no matter how small the volume they handle.
High-Andean origins
All current Fairtrade certified mines lie high in the Andes, above 4 500 m, in the district of Ananea, north of Lake Titicaca in Peru’s Puno region. The plateau is traditionally devoted to alpaca herding and wool - cornerstones of local Indigenous identity - yet those trades could no longer guarantee a future. Many inhabitants, legally or not, turned to artisanal gold digging.
With Fairtrade’s support that risky subsistence work has become a viable, safer route out of poverty, giving the communities both dignity and bargaining power in a market that once underpaid and overlooked them.
Limata was the first mining co-operative in the region to earn Fairtrade certification. The spark came from nearby CECOVASA, a Fairtrade coffee co-op: seeing how the Premium had transformed their neighbours, the gold miners of Limata decided in 2017 to begin the same journey.
Their gold lies in alluvial deposits, so extraction is surface work. Before dawn, in thin Andean air, 25 miners in two teams set to work.
Certification unlocked a new ambition: direct access to the international market. Until then they had no contact with refiners, banks or jewellers abroad. Meeting potential partners in Switzerland - eye to eye - was a decisive step toward economic self-determination.
Limata now aims to lead by example - obeying the law, applying best production practices, exporting directly.
It was also the first Ananea co-operative to receive the formal mining status “inicio-reinicio”. Strict safety measures have cut accident risk, and an environmental plan now optimises water use and minimises ecological impact. Chief among their goals is the gradual elimination of mercury - used safely for the moment, but destined to disappear as new technology arrives.
Committed to its roots, Limata creates local jobs and a future for the next generation. The miners see Fairtrade not merely as a market badge but as a lever for better lives. They already export directly, yet further economic and organisational strength will come through information, visibility and capacity-building. The Fairtrade Premium will fund that growth, keeping the co-operative sustainable, competitive, and equipped to turn its people’s hopes into reality.
One of ten co-operatives under the umbrella CECOMSAP (Central de Cooperativas Mineras San Antonio de Poto), the San Francisco co-op was founded in 2006 by 24 members and works at altitudes between4 600 m and 4 900 m. Most miners live in Ananea; a few commute from Juliaca.
Their early years were informal and machine-free, but rising income - together with CECOMSAP’s support in organising exports - allowed the miners to formalise operations, completing certification in 2017.
Thanks to the Fairtrade Premium they have already financed:
- clean-water upgrades
- closure and re-vegetation of old tailings ponds
- a new co-operative office in Juliaca
- a fume-extraction melting furnace for rough-gold production
- housing improvements for members
- protective clothing for every miner
- 248 warm blankets for high-altitude nights
- computers and printers for the local high school
- Christmas gifts for pupils
- study trips to Cajamarca to learn safer mining techniques
- training in accounting, co-op governance, and leadership roles
Meanwhile in Africa
At the end of 2016 SAMA, a tiny Ugandan association producing barely 5 kg of gold per year, became Africa’s first Fairtrade-certified mine. Subsequent audits, however, revealed working conditions still below the Standard, and certification was withdrawn.
The supply chain has not been abandoned: Fairtrade - together with partner companies - runs targeted projects to keep raising on-site conditions until the mine can qualify again.
(See Ian Berry’s work for a closer look at artisanal gold mining realities.)
