Three major jewellery retailers have announced their decision to shun irresponsible gold mining and seek cleaner sources of gold and precious metals.

Sears Holdings (parent company of Sears and Kmart), Ultra Stores, and Blue Nile have signed the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals, with the total number of jewellery retail signatories currently reaching 60. The jewellery retailers include seven of the top 10 jewellery retail firms in the US, and represent over $1.3 billion in annual US jewellery sales, or nearly a quarter of total sales.
 
The Golden Rules call on gold mining companies to meet the following basic standards in their operations:
 
* Respect basic human rights outlined in international conventions and law
* Obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of affected communities
* Respect workers' rights and labor standards, including safe working conditions
* Ensure that operations are not located in areas of armed or militarised conflict
* Ensure that projects do not force communities off their lands
* Ensure that projects are not located in protected areas, fragile ecosystems, or other areas of high conservation or ecological value
* Refrain from dumping mine wastes into the ocean, rivers, lakes, or streams
* Ensure that projects do not contaminate water, soil, or air with sulfuric acid drainage or other toxic chemicals
* Cover all costs of closing down and cleaning up mine sites
* Fully disclose information about social and environmental effects of projects
* Allow independent verification of the above
 
Payal Sampat of Earthworks, which spearheads the No Dirty Gold campaign, stated: "The No Dirty Gold campaign applauds this important step taken by Sears, Kmart, Blue Nile and Ultra Stores. We look forward to working with these companies to find solutions to irresponsible gold-mining practices."

According to No Dirty Gold, Sears, Ultra and Blue Nile have signed on to the Golden Rules at a time when discussions are advancing on third-party certification of more responsible mining practices through the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).

Michelle Pearlman, senior vice president and president of jewellery at Sears Holdings, said: "The No Dirty Gold campaign is a great initiative that pushes for sustainability and ethnical sourcing on gold. We are proud to be a part of it and to offer our customers gold that was obtained in a responsible manner." Sears strives to be a green company, and we will continue to work to build lifetime relationships with our customers starting from the mines up."

According to No Dirty Gold, the production of one gold ring generates, on average, 20 tons of mine waste. In addition, gold mining has been linked to human rights violations, forest destruction, toxic pollution and loss of lands and livelihoods.

Visit the No Dirty Gold Web site, NoDirtyGold.org to learn more about the No Dirty Gold campaign.

This story is courtesy of the Israel Diamond Industry portal:    http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/english/