The World Gold Council (WGC) has published its conflict-free gold standard, a benchmark that looks to track the metal from the mine to the end of the refining process.
The standard is designed to abolish gold that enables, fuels, or finances armed conflict. The goal is to facilitate miners to certify their gold as conflict-free on a global basis.
Conflict gold has been in the spotlight since the 2009 broadcast of a 60 Minutes report on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The segment highlighted the human rights abuses suffered by miners and the inability to trace gold once it is mixed in the stream with legitimate material.
The standard was developed in consultation with governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the investment community, artisanal miners, end users, and other participants in the gold supply chain.
For more information, visit http://www.gold.org/about_gold/sustainability/conflict_free_standard/.
