Community Gold Mining for Development

Village miners in Cameroon. Source: CMINC

Cameroon officially exports little gold and has no major gold mines. But for generations, family miners have foraged for gold flecks with shovel and pan. Such community mining differs from the co-operatives and small-scale industrial mines usually described as artisanal mining. As the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) notes: “Cameroon Inc. is the first RJC member who has stated to us that their primary business is to collect gold directly from family and community miners.”

CMINC evolved from an innovative non-profit co-founded by its CEO, Armand Biko’o. Born and raised in a rural Cameroon village, Biko’o won scholarships to study in South Africa and was a lecturer in nature conservation at South Africa’s largest university. The non-profit sought the dual goal of helping rural villages by conserving the wildlife around them. “We focused on working with traditional village social structures because we came from the villages,” explains Biko’o. CMINC’s success with communities was soon noticed and the government offered the team the right to collect gold in three rural areas.

Collections soon exceeded the capacity of the local markets, which led CMINC to explore international gold markets for help (see box). Gold has always held a special place in human society, arguably even more unique than the concept of money itself. This has led to the creation of a strict universe of formal and informal rules in the international gold trade. Credible buyers demand integrity through substantial anti-money laundering measures, child labour restrictions and environmental standards, among many others. How could a tiny group with an unfamiliar business model enter this complex universe?

CMINC quickly saw that both the formal and informal global standards were not fundamentally obstacles, but rather constructive ideas toward a common goal – improving the lives of rural mining families while supporting their ability to defend themselves against exploitation. The major challenge was applying the business and regulatory structures to a new sourcing model which operates in very difficult environments.

From left to right: Catherine Lam, European representative, Armand Biko’o, CEO, and Boubakari, COO. Source: CMINC

CMINC’s widespread collections also are a natural deterrent to abuse. If someone wanted to sell a large amount of illegally obtained gold, they would need to conspire with a large number of families who must be entrusted with the gold – a daunting obstacle in itself. In addition, the DBID can flag for investigation any untypically large gold quantity offered by a family.

Child Labour

A more difficult area is child labour. Applying existing international child labour standards word for word in rural areas is often not useful. That is because these standards were mainly developed when manufacturing moved to low- wage centres in Asia. They thus apply well in controlled factory settings where employees are monitored. But in both rich and poor countries, rural children participating in family work is considered a treasured part of a family’s culture. A child’s help is viewed as a sign of responsibility and maturity.

CMINC addresses this complex issue with a straightforward concept that appeals to a family’s interests. When school is in session, no school-age child should be at the mines; when there is no school, parents have discretion over a child’s activities. Exploitative labour by outsiders is strongly discouraged through an awareness programme. Fortunately, every stable family has a strong incentive to support the schooling of their children. Cameroon is unusually diverse, with more than 250 tribes. French (or, in some areas, English) as a second language taught in schools is a necessary lingua franca.

Village School built by CAMNARES. Source: CAMNARES

CMINC reinforces its child labour policy by helping local village schools with donations for classroom buildings, teachers’ salaries, school supplies and furniture. This builds a strong relationship between school principles, teachers and CMINC. If children from a mining family are missing school or have other problems, CMINC will investigate. Since village schools typically educate children from both mining and non-mining families, the effort also helps support community unity and reduces inter-family jealousy.

For example, last year, CMINC was visiting a potential mining village partner and a young girl was spotted in a washing pit. Biko’o and visiting European representative, Catherine Lam, launched an investigation on the spot. The girl’s father was found, and he explained that the village’s school had been closed by the authorities due to a licensing error by an overseas charity. Parents had unfortunately already paid school fees for that year and could not afford more to send their children to the school in the next village. So, the child was not working but was being super vised by her mother while her mother worked. CMINC verified the information and left an unconditional donation as a gesture of goodwill and trust. This was used to help restart the school. The village is now a CMINC partner (further details are available on CMINC’s website).

What happens when a reporter does not have enough information about an incident for CMINC to investigate properly or is unsatisfied by CMINC’s investigation? CMINC will arrange a third-party auditor with international credibility and the resources to do the investigations in Cameroon. The auditor will have full access to CMINC’s records as well as physical access for visits and interviews at mining villages. The auditor can be contacted by a reporter for an estimate of the cost of an investigation. If the incident is serious enough, the reporter can raise the necessary funds with CMINC’s co-operation and interest in any results that may help it.

Development Gold: A New Market?

CMINC’s project raises an intriguing possibility for world gold markets. Ethical gold standards are already being developed and recommended by highly credible organisations such as Fairmined (www.fairmined.org), the Responsible Jewellery Council (www. responsiblejewellery.com) and FairGold (www. fairgold.org). Such gold is certified to satisfy anti-money laundering standards, often including best practices for labour and the environment. Some standards also seek a positive impact on the quality of life of miners and their families. But the main message to the consumer currently is that Ethical Gold does no harm.

What if consumers could be offered development gold, which not only does no harm, but also helps those who collect it? This message could be reinforced by systems like DBID which can link a retail gold piece to one of the families who contributed gold to it. When buying jewellery, the consumer could thus see information and pictures about the family, the children’s school and the village. Through CMINC, an owner could even send letters and presents to the family (although CMINC would require that presents be allocated to the community in a fair way to avoid jealousy toward the family itself). When a consumer has the time and resources, a visit by the consumer to the family and its village can be arranged.

Thus, gold could offer more than harmless adornment – it could offer a consumer a charitable relationship, giving them the satisfaction of doing something good for someone less fortunate which could last a lifetime.

Let us gaze at blue skies a bit more. It might be possible for individuals, groups of individuals and corporations to adopt entire mining villages and use their gold exclusively in innovative ways. Of course, marketing channels and brands are justifiably sensitive to ethical claims. That is where CMINC’s unusual transparency based ethical policy can help. Imagine a brand or marketing channel’s CEO being interrupted during a speech by an ethical accusation over development gold. Rather than be flustered, the CEO could simply give the accuser details of the CMINC website for reporting ethical incidents. In a generous gesture of interest, he could even ask to be kept updated by the accuser regarding CMINC’s follow-up. Development gold? An intriguing possibility indeed.