Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold
CRED only uses gold certified Fairtrade and Fairmined. The majority of our gold and platinum comes from small scale miners at the Sotrami mine at San Filomena in Peru. All Fairtrade and Fairmoned gold is mined under stringent social and environmental criteria, independently audited and the miners receive a premium on the price. The premium enables them to live better, send their kids to school, put food on the table and develop their communities. Mines, miners and metals are independently audited by FLO Cert against the Fairtrade and Fairmined Ecological standard. The full Fairtrade and Fairmined Standard can be down loaded here - download the full details.
The standards that CRED and Oro Verde have been working under since 2002 have formed the basis of the criteria for the newly launched Fairtrade and Fairmined standard for gold. Since Valentines day 2011 every piece of CRED Jewellery is created with Fairtrade and Fairmined gold and receive the additional Fairtrade and Fairmined dual stamp alongside the hallmarks and CRED stamp.
CRED’s unique blend of 18ct white gold is made with a higher-than-normal palladium content, which gives the same classic colour and finish without the need for Rhodium plating. This means our white gold jewellery won’t lose its shine or change colour.
Our pioneering work with Oro Verde™
The Corporación Oro Verde is a collective of community, sustainability and environmental organisations from the Choco region of Colombia. Together they work with 12 Afro-Colombian communities to support small-scale alluvial mining operations. Oro Verde™ have pioneered an environmentally sustainable, socially responsible form of artisanal mining that seeks to preserve the unique and vital virgin rainforest ecosystems while providing a fair, regular source of income to miners, their families and their communities.
Oro Verde™ created the first Certified Green Gold programme in the world. The standards that they began developing in 2000 have formed the basis for the Fairtrade and Fairmined standard. Going above and beyond the minimum criteria for Fairtrade and Fairmined gold, it is mined without using any chemicals under stringent social and environmental criteria, independently audited and the miners receive a premium on the price. The premium enables them to live better, send their kids to school, put food on the table and develop their communities.
Our platinum is sourced from Oro Verde™ under the same standards, however there is not currently a certification for platinum as there is for gold.
We have been working with Oro Verde™ since 2002 and were the first retailer in Europe to sell Oro Verde™ certified Green Gold. Their two-track approach of supporting indigenous mining communities while restoring vital ecosystems is exactly the ethical, responsible focus that we seek in all we do. CRED personally visits Oro Verde™ frequently, so we are not relying on third hand reports.
The benefits of small-scale mining
The ratio of societal value in large-scale mining is much lower than in small-scale mining. Small-scale mines employ more people rather than being mechanised, don’t use up deposits as quickly and the revenue stays in the community. Small scale mines tend to be where there are richer deposits, and are more accessible, for example where gold has come to the surface through erosion such as on riverbeds or in mud.
There are an estimated 100 million families and dependants involved in small-scale mining throughout the world. Artisanal and small-scale miners produce just 15% of global gold supplies, but make up 90% of labour in gold extraction. Through Fairtrade and Fairmined certification, miners can improve their economic, social and environmental conditions.
