The World Gold Council (WGC), the market development organisation for the gold industry, yesterday announced the launch of its Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMP), that are designed to address key environmental, social and governance issues for the gold mining sector. It is expected that this will set out clear expectations for consumers, investors and the downstream gold supply chain as to what constitutes responsible gold mining, WGC said.

The principles cover Governance – relating to Ethical conduct, Understanding of impacts and monitoring the Supply chain; Social – relating to Safety and health, Human rights and conflict, Labour rights and Working with communities; and Environment – which entails taking environmental stewardship, respecting Biodiversity, especially in land use and responsible mine closure and cover water, energy and climate change related usage.

The new charter is intended to recognise and consolidate existing standards and instruments under a single framework with the aim of becoming a credible and widely recognised framework through which gold mining companies can provide confidence that their gold has been produced responsibly, WGC reported.

Companies implementing the Responsible Gold Mining Principles will be required to obtain external assurance from a third party, independent assurance provider. This will provide further confidence to purchasers of gold that the gold they buy is responsibly mined and sourced.

Gary Goldberg, CEO of Newmont Goldcorp, who oversaw this initiative on behalf of the Board of the World Gold Council, said: “Adherence to strong Environmental, Social and Governance principles should be a key part of any responsible gold mining business and, as such, the Members of the World Gold Council have collaborated, along with key industry stakeholders, to develop the Responsible Gold Mining Principles. Given the Members’ sustained focus on improving ESG performance, the formalisation of the Responsible Gold Mining Principles is a natural evolution of our daily working practices. It is my hope that these Principles will be widely adopted, not only by Member companies, but by the industry more broadly.”

Terry Heymann, Chief Financial Officer of the World Gold Council, said: “It is our aim that the Responsible Gold Mining Principles reinforce trust in gold and the gold mining industry. Consumers, investors and the downstream gold supply chain will be able to know, with confidence, that their gold has been responsibly sourced. The Principles incorporate feedback from more than 200 organisations and individuals over two rounds of consultation and are designed to support the efficient operation of the gold market.”