RAPAPORT… Ingle & Rhode and S&P Trading received a first batch of certified Fairtrade & Fairmined gold from The Comunidad Aurifera Relave S.A (The Relave Gold Community ) or AURELSA, a small community in Peru. AURELSA received Fairtrade & Fairmined gold certification in May 2012 following a series of independent audits by Fairtrade International (FLO), the certification body that is responsible for verifying compliance with the Fairtrade & Fairmined gold standards.
AURELSA is only the fourth gold producer to obtain Fairtrade & Fairmined status, sharing the distinction with the Cotapata Mining Cooperative in Bolivia, SOTRAMI in Peru and Oro Verde in Colombia.
Tim Ingle, co-founder of retailer Ingle & Rhode, said, ”We are absolutely delighted to see another small-scale producer achieve Fairtrade & Fairmined status and are very proud to have received AURELSA’s first shipment of certified Fairtrade & Fairmined gold.
”This historic first shipment reflects the continued increase in consumer demand for jewelry made with certified Fairtrade & Fairmined gold, and AURELSA will significantly improve availability of this type of product to both jewelers and consumers. Fairtrade & Fairmined gold makes jewelry all the more beautiful for having been produced without human or environmental exploitation,” Ingle said.
Patrick Schein, the founder of S&P Trading, added, ”We are proud to be able to offer pioneer jewelers this new Fairtrade & Fairmined gold in different alloys. AURELSA has been a long supplier of gold for our refinery and we were waiting the moment of this certification. With this certification, comes not only a guarantee of a development premium but also the recognition of the community as a responsible actor in Peru.”
Fairtrade & Fairmined gold was launched in the U.K. in February 2011, with the aim of ensuring that artisanal and small-scale miners can produce and sell gold without being exploited by middlemen, while working with fair pay and conditions and without using child labor or polluting the environment.
Achieving Fairtrade & Fairmined gold certification means that AURELSA will now receive a guaranteed Fairtrade Minimum Price, set at 95 percent of the London fix (the price set by the London Bullion Market Association’s or LBMA), as well as a Fairtrade premium payment, set at 10 percent of the London fix, and which is democratically reinvested in community projects and improving miners’ operations.