LBMA, amongst other organisations, identified Ghana as a prime candidate for developing a successful responsible Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) industry. It meets the criteria by having, amongst others, a peaceful country, stable governance, a comparatively functional state environmental agency, significant gold reserves, successive governments committed to supporting responsible ASM sourcing, and - most importantly - a viable, legal space for ASGM.
LBMA is fully engaged with key stakeholders and is committed to supporting initiatives that have been established to ensure the best possible results.
Recently, LBMA participated in the Mining in Motion event in Accra which brought together not only the key players in Ghana, but also many delegates that represented countries across the African continent. There is a clear willingness to learn from the real-life experiences of people who are already on the journey.
It was particularly comforting to see LBMA GDL Refiners in attendance, particularly as several of them are actively working on projects to ensure ASGM supplies to the LBMA ecosystem will increase from the current, disturbingly low numbers.
It was also reassuring that the dialogue has noticeably changed since a Responsible ASGM sourcing model was presented at the OECD Conference over ten years ago. Large scale miners, central banks, and law enforcement are definitely more engaged.
At the recent OECD Conference in Paris there were sessions within and without the formal proceedings that demonstrated the sheer number of people and organisations operating in the ASGM space. It also demonstrated that the many initiatives should work together wherever and whenever possible to ensure that efforts are not unnecessarily duplicated and that any mistakes can be shared learning experiences.
ASM Toolkit Adoption Gathers Momentum
On a general, practical level, the use of the LBMA ASM Toolkit is becoming more evident. The Toolkit works as a structured risk assessment in the form of a questionnaire that Refiners can work through with suppliers, incorporating an integrated progressive improvement pathway to guide ASM sites towards best practice. Organisations and Refiners using the Toolkit are providing useful feedback on the practicalities of its implementation especially where regional/jurisdictional differences need to be taken into account.
LBMA’s ASM initiative, which has been running for a couple of years now, is certainly moving things in the right direction after years of declining interest in sourcing ASGM. LBMA’s ASM Task Force has been critical in providing impetus as well being a vital information sharing engine. The entire supply chain is represented along with all the major global, and regional, organisations who are committed to the cause.
