International gold refiners who use gold from Ghana may be benefitting from hazardous child labor in unlicensed mines, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today... The refiners should take immediate steps to eliminate child labor in their supply chains. The...report, “Precious Metal, Cheap Labor: Child Labor and Corporate Responsibility in Ghana’s Artisanal Gold Mines,” documents the use of child labor in Ghana’s artisanal, or unlicensed, mines, where most mining takes place... “...Ghana’s unlicensed gold mines are very dangerous places where no child should work,” said Juliane Kippenberg, senior children rights researcher at Human Rights Watch... Children have been injured – and, in at least one case, killed – in mine collapses... They also risk brain damage and other life-long disabilities from mercury poisoning... Human Rights Watch examined the “due diligence” policies and procedures of six international refiners that buy gold from Ghana: Metalor...Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux (PAMP)...Kaloti Jewellery International...Emirates Gold...Kundan...and Rand Refinery... Several of them have weaknesses... Human Rights Watch provided its findings to the companies and received written responses from Metalor, Kaloti, PAMP, and Rand Refinery, which stopped buying gold from Ghana in 2014... [also refers to Precious Metals Marketing Company]