Just Gold - fully traceable, conflict-free, artisanal gold from Democratic Republic of Congo – in partnership with an NGO
About the Just Gold project
IMPACT’s Just Gold project is the first to successfully trace conflict-free and legal artisanal gold from mine sites to export in Democratic Republic of Congo, applying regional and international standards applicable to conflict-affected and high-risk areas.
Over 1,000 miners across six mine sites sell their fully traceable gold to a verified exporter in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the Just Gold project.
Through the Just Gold project, IMPACT creates incentives for artisanal gold miners to channel their product to legal exporters—and eventually responsible consumers.
IMPACT provides capacity building, such as technical assistance to miners, in return for legal sales.
Miners are taught better extraction techniques and are offered Just Gold project equipment. In return, any gold they produce must be tracked and sold through legal channels. IMPACT partners with local traders who buy the gold from miners at fair and transparent prices.
After a pilot phase, in May 2017 IMPACT announced the Just Gold project had proven a legal, traceable, and conflict-free chain of custody from mine site to exporter—a first for artisanal gold in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fair Trade Jewellery Co. made history by purchasing the first export of fully traceable, conflict-free artisanal gold from Democratic Republic of Congo in June 2017 and making it available to consumers in Canada. This was reported on by the Globe & Mail here.
As of June 2018, we offer a house blend of 50% Just Gold with 50% Recycled gold so that clients can make a choice that is both socially & environmentally conscious. We continue to offer Fairtrade or Fairmined gold with at an additional premium starting at $200 per ring.
About IMPACT and Fair Trade Jewellery Co.
Fair Trade Jewellery Co.’s move to import gold produced through the Just Gold project is vital to supporting artisanal gold mining communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and ensuring a long-term, sustainable solution for traceable and conflict-free artisanal gold.
IMPACT supports the traceability and due diligence implementation for the Just Gold project from mine site to export on the ground in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, powered by the Consensas software platform. IMPACT works with miners, traders, and exporters to create the incentives for legal sales and provides capacity building to implement the traceability and due diligence system required by the Just Gold project. IMPACT also supports the integration of women’s economic empowerment through the Just Gold project, improving an understanding of women’s rights in the communities involved in the project and fostering women’s leadership through skills-building and training.
FTJCo uses Just Gold in its jewellery, making it the only product available in the world made from conflict-free artisanal gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo, fully traced from mine site to consumer.
About IMPACT
IMPACT transforms how natural resources are managed in areas where security and human rights are at risk. We investigate and develop approaches for natural resources to improve security, development, and equality. We are an independent non-profit, collaborating with local partners for lasting change.
IMPACT—formerly Partnership Africa Canada—is based in Canada with field operations, research, and collaborations with local partners around the globe. The organization has been working on ensuring natural resources contribute to equitable peace and development for over 30 years.
About IMPACT & Consensas
IMPACT developed the Just Gold in the field and supports its implementation from mine sites to export on the ground in Ituri Province. IMPACT partnered with Consensas, a Canadian technology company to merge Just Gold with their platform creating an unmatched socio-technical solution to scale the program's benefits to more communities and more countries. Working with Consensas has unlocked evidence-based data from the Just Gold supply chain, all the way to the final consumer.
By combining Consensas’ groundbreaking technology with IMPACT’s in-depth experience to transform how natural resources are managed in areas where security and human rights are at risk, we have created a solution that allows companies to confidently source artisanal gold from Democratic Republic of Congo, while supporting upstream supply chain actors to progressively meet international market standards.
Consensas is a multilingual, inexpensive, scalable technology platform to cryptographically preserve and manage information in the world’s most complex supply chains. A unique blend of cryptography and structured data, Consensas is capable of sharing the power of trusted information between stakeholders. Through data harmonization, real-time insights and alerts, it significantly reduces the burden of regulatory compliance and reporting. The platform takes the best of blockchain, uniquely adapting it to work for smaller-scale actors, and in difficult and complex environments, such as conflict-affected and high-risk areas. The platform is designed to support the use of a public blockchain for proof of sequencing and data creation.
More information on Just Gold
https://impacttransform.org/en/work/project/just-gold/
Meet Josephine Kibondo and Moza Zawadi, two women artisanal gold miners in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Province. They share their stories of their life as artisanal miners and, while they say it’s hard work, they rely on the income from artisanal mining to support their families. Together with Canada’s Carleton University and Uganda’s Development Research and Social Policy Analysis Centre, IMPACT is exploring women’s livelihoods in the artisanal mining of 3Ts (tin, tantalum, tungsten) and gold within the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Video by Sven Torfinn/IMPACT
In the Fall of 2018, the Canadian NGO IMPACT convened a conference in Ottawa, Canada where two of the female miners from the Just Gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo met with FTJCo CEO Robin Gambhir and head goldsmith Kesha Frank. This image shows Kesha with the miners--a powerful story that shows the beginning and end of a completely traceable gold supply chain that starts and ends with women--something that has never been done before. The miners said that of all they experienced in their journey to Canada, amongst the most significant was meeting the representatives of FTJCo, who helped bring their gold to market.
They told us how the ability to sell their gold to a legal supply chain had increased their security and their ability to send their children to school amongst other benefits. For us, at FTJCo, this made all of the work and financial risks we had undertaken to source gold from a conflict zone, totally worth it.
Our clients, who have purchased their jewellery made with this gold, are part of this story.
Considering that the jewellery industry pretty much exists to serve women, using gold that has a gender-focus and is made by a company that is 90% female is only right and proper.
The Shadow of Gold Documentary (2019)
In 2019 The Shadow of Gold was released at Toronto's HotDocs festival. Part of the documentary followed the journey of gold from Congo DRC to FTJCo in Toronto and features scenes with FTJCo staff, clients and workshop.