Our Work in Gold

Our Work in Gold

The production of gold has been associated with egregious labor abuses, including forced and child labor, as well as violations of community land rights and environmental degradation. Small-scale miners often labor in hazardous conditions and harsh environments while earning wages below legal minimums, in some cases indebted to employers, moneylenders or other actors or being paid in kind for their work. The gold rush of recent years has attracted the attention of a diverse set of market actors, including not only multinational companies and small-scale or artisanal miners, but also criminal networks and other unscrupulous parties.

Fusion

Fusion

Peru, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, has a new booming illicit business: gold. Illegal gold mining has surged in the South American country, the world’s fifth biggest gold exporter. A new Univision Investigative report shows that the criminal organizations that traffic illegal drugs have diversified and are now in the business of trading the precious metal. “There are signs that people engaged in criminal activities, like narco trafficking and terrorism are involved in illegal gold mining,” said Tania Quispe, the Director of SUNAT, Peru’s equivalent of the I.R.S. The agency is in charge of monitoring illegal gold mining.

The New York Times

The New York Times

Read the full-text of the article below or on The New York Times Website. Report Cites Forced Labor in Malaysia’s Electronics Industry By STEVEN GREENHOUSE SEPT. 17, 2014 Nearly one in three migrant workers in Malaysia’s thriving electronics industry toils under...
The Guardian

The Guardian

About one-fifth of the gold exported from Peru is illegally mined, with forced labor extracting much of the precious metal that ends up in cellphones, computers and jewelry, according to US non-profit Verité. Peru’s Andean mineral wealth has made it the world’s sixth-largest gold producer and boosted it into the ranks of middle-income countries, but some miners have paid for the boom with their freedom – or their lives.

Huffington Post

Huffington Post

Peru is one of the largest gold producers in the world — the fifth largest, if illegally produced gold is taken into account. Gold has recently surpassed cocaine as Peru’s largest illicit export, and Peru is the largest cocaine producer in the world. But unlike cocaine, illegal gold goes on to become a legitimate consumer product, found in our jewelry, watches, and smart phones.