‘Behind the shine: how the jewellery trade relies on minerals tainted with death’ 4 December 2020

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The crunching sound of bulldozers came as a death rattle for men working deep in a gold mine in eastern Zimbabwe. On 15 November, contractors’ bulldozers converged on the mine on the outskirts of Mutare. They planned to “reclaim” it from the local community, who had been mining there independently with low-tech tools and without the backing of a company (known as artisanal or small-scale mining). However, the tonnes of soil and rock poured down the mineshaft to block up its entrances created a living grave for the men still at work underground. Reports of how many people died inside the mine range from two to twelve. Rescuers recovered the bodies of two men and then stopped searching. The Chinese company responsible says it thought the mine was empty and had given fair warning of the reclamation – a claim disputed by the miners. No criminal charges have been filed over the incident.

…Zimbabwe’s gold and diamond mining industry is characterised by violence, frequent accidents and corruption, according to Maguwu. Zimbabwe is just one of the countries highlighted in the latest report by Human Rights Watch, which scrutinises the supply chains of some of the biggest jewellery companies in the world. In the run up to Christmas, the report is urging brands and shoppers to put human rights at the heart of the jewellery industry. An estimated 42 million people work in artisanal mining. Around the world, artisanal miners are villagers trying to make a living, farmers looking for work in the dry season, or small-scale commercial operators who are sometimes funded by organised crime. It is low tech, poorly paid, dangerous work, which produces 20% of the world’s gold and diamonds.

The industry experts we spoke to recommend interrogating companies before buying jewellery – asking which country and which mine the materials come from and what human rights standards are in place. Ultimately, Kippenberg says the jewellery industry cannot be left to self-regulate: “Industry standards are not the solution. They can help bring about good practice and support companies who want to do the right thing, but to get the jewellery industry to the right place, we need legislation – laws requiring companies to conduct human rights due diligence.”