In times like these, when we can easily feel overwhelmed and saddened by the state of the world, we need things that enable us to make a positive impact on both the planet and people even more.
Enter Fairmined: the gold and silver you can feel good about, that do exactly that.
When you purchase Fairmined metals, you support small-scale miners and their families in a variety of impactful ways, including but not limited to:
In addition to receiving a fair price for the gold they produce, the miners receive a premium: money so that they can continue their process of improvement and development.
They receive USD $4 for every gram of Fairmined gold sold (extracted with responsible chemical management). And in the case of Fairmined "ECO gold" (extracted without the use of any chemicals) they receive USD $6 for each gram of gold.
"Thanks to this award, certified small-scale mining organizations are able to improve their mining activity, carry out projects in favor of human rights, gender equality and environmental projects. Of course, they also comply with the technical, legal and environmental requirements to obtain the Fairmined certification that is renewed and audited every year." ~Fairmined website/Alliance for Responsible Mining
What does this mean for you?
#1. You get to invest in the wellbeing of people in both Colombia and Peru and know for certain that entire communities of men, women and children are benefitting!
The premium you pay (yes, it does make it more expensive than non-Fairmined gold) goes directly towards these communities who often live in remote, impoverished areas. Supporting Fairmined also encourages other neighboring mining communities to adopt Fairmined practices (such as lessening the use of toxic mercury) as well.
When you buy a piece of Fairmined gold jewelry, it's not a charity handout with questionable outcomes: you are helping people (who often have no other choice but to mine gold to earn a living) reinvest in their own community, develop, and thrive. You're also helping support practices that keep children out of the workforce and keep adults from engaging in shady illegal mining.
#2. You get to know where your gold came from and the inspiring stories of real people behind it!
One amazing success story is of the Íquira miners in Colombia, where all of our designer Dylann Wolfe's gold comes from!
Did you know that these miners actually started out as coffee farmers?
"Since mining started in our region, it has improved the lives of families with job generation." ~Mercedes Arias
In the early 2000s, several coffee farmers in the area began splitting their time between artisanal gold mining and farming. Thanks to early organizing efforts, they were able to organize and create the Íquira Cooperative in 2004 and obtain a registered mining title and official licenses from the Colombian government. The Íquira cooperative, characterized by a strong sense of unity and a loving spirit, has become aware of the positive impact that mining can have on its community thanks to the training workshops hosted by the Alliance for Responsible Mining (the org that oversees Fairmined).
Both men and women miners work there, and now they rotate seasonally between producing coffee and gold!
#3. You can know that your purchase helps protect and restore the environment.
All Fairmined mines are required to responsibly store/manage tailings (the waste after the rock has been processed) as well as restore the land after mining has taken place.
One Fairmined certified mining organization in the Peruvian Amazon called AMATAF mines without the use of mercury, which is not only deeply toxic to humans but to the environment as well.
These Fairmined miners have received support from Pure Earth, another one of the amazing organizations we support, via training workshops and ongoing guidance.
The men and women miners of AMATAF are very motivated to keep up their Fairmined methods and have become a beacon of responsible mining in the Madre de Dios region. However, they need buyers to continually purchase and work with Fairmined gold in order to keep going. No single jewelry retailer can support these communities alone; there needs to be a joint, global movement of support in order to assure the miners can continue in their efforts. If they don't receive enough demand, gold mining won't stop, it will simply be sold to the market outside of the Fairmined tracking system and be mixed in with other gold sources at the refinery, therefore losing all traceability.
Every piece of jewelry you purchase is a show of support and lets the Fairmined miners know without a doubt that people care about responsible mining and want them to keep going. (FYI: We actually have access to a platform called Fairmined Connect where all the gold we purchase from suppliers is tracked digitally!)
We are proud to be a Fairmined Certified brand and carry so many pieces made using Fairmined silver, 14kt and 18kt yellow gold. Hopefully you learned a lot more about Fairmined is in this blog and have fun shopping our Fairmined pieces!
Shop all 14kt Fairmined yellow gold pieces
Shop all 18kt Fairmined yellow gold pieces
Shop all Fairmined Silver pieces
For more on how Fairmined is having a positive impact, watch this YouTube video.