Resources

The purpose of the following report is to provide insights, analysis and data – based on extensive interviews with industry participants and financial institutions – that can inform future initiatives designed to achieve the ultimate goal of a fully traced and validated supply chain that is both scalable and self-sustaining. The report’s scope of enquiry covers the role of financial institutions (and of industry partners that provide financing) in both the responsible tin, tantalum, tungsten (3T) and gold supply chains (together, the ‘3TG’ sector).

The paper includes a case study of an informal ASM-affected community located in the Western Region of Ghana. A two-phase mixed-method approach consisting of literature reviews, questionnaires, interviews, and water quality assessments was employed.

This Special Report highlights the significant, yet chronically underreported major role African women play in the sector, more so in artisanal and small scale mining (ASM). In Africa, the ASM workforce comprises no less than 40-50% women; this report highlights a selection of them in Ghana, Guinea and Tanzania, and reveals the key challenges that women face in the sector and what can be done to make it more gender-responsive

This video tells the story of Anna, a female mine worker in Tanzania. Tanzania is the fourth-largest producer of gold in Africa. In Tanzania, approximately 25 percent of all people directly involved in artisanal and small-scale gold mines (ASGM), are women.

This video tells the stories of Josephine Kibondo and Moza Zawadi, two women artisanal gold miners in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Province. They share about their life as artisanal miners and, while they say it’s hard work, they rely on the income from artisanal mining to support their families.

The OECD DDG provides step-by-step management recommendations endorsed by governments for global responsible supply chains of all minerals, in order for companies to respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices. This Guidance for minerals may be used by any company potentially sourcing any minerals or metals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, and is intended to cultivate transparent, conflict-free supply chains and sustainable corporate engagement in the minerals sector.

RMI Mission: Provide companies with tools and resources to make sourcing decisions that improve regulatory compliance and support responsible sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

This paper explores the gendered contexts of artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa, and traces how women are likely to be excluded from current policy pushes to formally regulate the sector. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research results from six artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites, two in each of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, the paper traces how the gendered organization of mining roles, when viewed in relation to women’s disproportionate household and care work, and the gendered norms around what women should do, devalues and delimits women’s mining work. The result, we argue, is that

These guidelines are designed for project managers, project implementers, practitioners, or others working on development or environmental management projects that could impact ASM projects or communities that engage in ASM.  This document addresses: (1) impact of development projects on ASM; (2) impacts of ASM on the environment, health, and socio-political systems; (3) best practices on mitigation measures for minimizing impacts of ASM; (4) impact of climate change on ASM; and (5) impact of ASM on climate change. 

The U.S. EPA provides technical assistance to its partner countries and to multilateral organizations through training courses, technology transfer, sharing of environmental data and information, and environmental education initiatives.