Jewellery World Magazine - August 2021

“The problem for jewellers and consumers
is that most diamonds whether mined or
lab-grown don’t come with information about
origin… without this it’s very hard to make a
claim that one or the other is better for our
planet and communities.”
Ben also praised Diamond Foundry who play a
major role in the eco-conscious LGD scene.
For Benn at Ethical Jewellery Australia, LGDs
are an accepted part of the ethical and
mainstream jewellery markets, and also
ethically sound for the simple fact that LGDs
aren’t mined.
“That is, the environmental damage (not just
carbon emissions) from mining weigh more
heavily than anything else,” he said.
Benn acknowledged LGDs’ large carbon
footprint and said for this reason there are
good and not-so-good producers.
Zoe Pook
“Our preferred suppliers use renewable
energy in the manufacture and cutting of their
diamonds, so we get the best of both worlds.”
Zoe Pook
Precious
metals of
provenance
With initiatives like
Fair Trade Gold,
Fairmined Gold
and Single Mine
Origin (SMO) Gold, it would seem gold is
much further ahead than diamonds in terms
of traceability, ethical mining and trade, with
seemingly far more options in the market for
ethical gold.
Inspira Diamonds
Benn said that Fair Trade, Fairmined and
SMO gold purveyors have generally improved
traceability by isolating their supply chains
from mainstream markets.
“Typically a reseller will need to be licenced by
the marketing body before they can promote
themselves as a user/supplier of the product,”
he said.
“In this way, Fairmined, Fair Trade or SMO gold
can be traced back to the mine or mines it
originated from.”
He said that marketing bodies such as
fairmined.org that aggregate their gold supply
from various certified mining operations
to ensure miners are relatively well paid,
their working
conditions are
relatively safe,
the mining
operations are as
environmentally
conscientious
as they can
Chemgold
be, and their
communities are well supported.
“To this extent, Fair Trade/Fairmined gold
represents a responsible sourcing option.”
Chemgold is a Sydney-based precious metal
supplier, jewellery service business and a
member of the Responsible Jewellery Council
operating for more than 30 years. Director
Darren Sher said that their business only uses
precious metals mined with an eco-friendly
approach.
“Protecting human rights and upholding our
social responsibility
are also key factors in
our manufacturing
process,” he said.
Their supply chain
policy mandates
that precious
metals supplied from
Chemgold are not acquired through human
rights violations such as child labour or
slavery, do not serve or support criminal or
terrorist activities such as money laundering,
and were not
extracted or
processed in
ways which
destroy the
earth’s surface
or harms the
environment.
Chemgold
“We demand
corresponding
evidence from our suppliers and actively
support them in implementing these values in
their supply chain,” Darren said.
For Zoe, Fair Trade, Fairmined and SMO gold
are the only certifications which guarantee
the gold’s origin and make an actual difference
to the amount of artisanal gold miners in
the industry, where
health and safety
conditions are poor
and corruption is rife.
“I could buy
‘Australian Gold’ but
who is that helping?
Rich mine owners,
that’s who. It’s not an
‘ethical’ choice,” she
said.
Chemgold
Ben Manning said
that Fair Trade,
Fairmined and SMO
gold has shone a small spotlight on the issues
and shown what’s possible forresponsible gold
mining and traceability. However, he doesn’t
believe that it has yet changed the enormous
problems with Artisanal and Small Scale gold
Mining (ASM) around the world.
Ethical Jewellery Australia
24
jewellery world - August 2021