"Report: US brands linked to Uyghur-mined gold" 11 October 2023

Hundreds of major U.S. companies may be unwittingly producing goods using gold that was mined using the forced labor of Uyghurs in China’s far-west Xinjiang region, according to a new report.

The report by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, or C4ADS, also says financial firms including Vanguard, Fidelity, JPMorgan Chase and Blackstone have led Americans to invest in Chinese companies operating Xinjiang-based gold mines through their index funds.

The report focuses on gold in particular, and says four of China’s 10 largest gold companies operate in Xinjiang...

The four companies identified are Lingbao Gold Group Company, Zhaojin Mining Industry Company, Zijin Mining Group and Shandong Gold Group, which is China’s second-largest gold company...

C4ADS notes that both the Good Delivery Lists of the London Bullion Market Association and Responsible Mineral Initiative have certified the companies...as being compliant with human right standards...But it says there is evidence they in fact use forced Uyghur labor...

Mattel, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Home Depot, Apple and Tesla are among 397 companies that have reported exposure to Zijin Mining. American Eagle, Sony and Amazon, meanwhile, are among 399 companies with reported exposure to Shandong Gold...

Apple spokesperson Nick Leahy told Radio Free Asia he could not comment on the specifics of the report before reading it...Leahy added the London Bullion Market Association, which compiles the Good Delivery List, recently evaluated claims against Zijin Mining.

“They investigated them, and they didn’t find anything on them, so they remain on the LBMA Good Delivery List,” he said, adding Apple would not work with them otherwise. “We're very forthcoming about our zero tolerance for any forced labor anywhere in our supply chain.”

RFA also reached out to T-Mobile, Mattel and Starbucks about their due diligence measures, but did not receive a response...