The demand for gold is constantly increasing, and recycled gold, at about 23%, does not even cover a quarter of it. Unfortunately, the many people in mining regions do not benefit in any way from the use of recycled gold.
Mining must continue in order to meet the annual demand. By choosing gold from responsible mining, you are actively doing support work for the people at the very beginning of the supply chain. Fair gold offers them a secure livelihood and promotes the sustainable development of local communities.
Only 10% of the world's miners work in large-scale industrial mining, most of which is run by Western corporations. Although they are responsible for most of the gold mined, unfortunately only a few people from the mining regions benefit from this.
More than 90% of the miners work specifically in small-scale mining. This makes small-scale mining one of the most important economic factors in regions where there are hardly any alternative sources of income and with rising gold prices, the number of people in informal mining keeps increasing.
More than 150 million people worldwide depend on mining.
Child labor is not uncommon, and the payment for the gold mined is not enough to feed the family or provide the children with an adequate education.
People risk their lives by going into the mines without protective clothing and exposing themselves to chemicals such as cyanide and mercury. But the toxic substances do not only endanger the health of the workers.
Catastrophic environmental damage is the result, because due to a lack of technical equipment and knowledge about the fatal effects on nature, chemicals are not disposed of properly. They flow into waters from which drinking water is obtained and in which fish are contaminated.
