Pure Earth, a leading global environmental health non-profit, is teaming up with actor and musician Ruby Rivera Modine and 30+ designers for the 2022 Pure Earth Pure Gold collection.
Pure Earth’s new Pure Earth Pure Gold collection 2022 in collaboration with actor and musician Ruby Rivera Modine and 30+ designers feature pieces crafted using only Fairmined gold (donated by Hoover and Strong) that has been responsibly sourced. The collection is the centrepiece of Pure Earth’s ongoing collaboration with the responsible jewellery industry. The collection aims to raise awareness about the global impact of mercury pollution from gold mining, the plight of artisanal and small-scale gold miners, and the solutions being implemented in the Amazon rainforest and beyond. The Pure Earth Pure Gold collection opened for auction on 10th October with bids closing on the evening of 17th October during the Pure Earth Benefit Bash.
“The Pure Earth Pure Gold collection is not just beautiful, it is purposeful. It shows that gold can be mined without toxic mercury, and without the destruction of lives and our natural resources. The incredible jewellers collaborating with Pure Earth are a key part of the solution. Their work on this collection should inspire us all, just as Mother nature inspires me, to work for a better world,” says actor and musician Ruby Rivera Modine.
Connecting Miners to Jewellers to Consumers
As the only organisation training miners in both mercury-free techniques and reforestation in the Peruvian Amazon, Pure Earth is in a unique position to make an impact in one of the busiest gold mining areas on earth.
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which supplies about 20% of the world’s gold, is the largest source of global mercury emissions. In the Amazon, ASGM using mercury has resulted in large scale destruction and mercury pollution of the rainforest. This has exposed local communities to health risks, which also pose threats far beyond its borders. Mercury moves through the atmosphere and drops into oceans and rivers worldwide, poisoning the seafood we all consume.
“I think we all have to start asking questions about how gold is mined. Responsible jewellers who support our work and educate their peers and clients will help create a demand for gold mined without mercury, and that in turn will encourage more miners to go mercury free. We all want the same thing. Gold that does not poison our food, does not contaminate our precious natural resources, and is safe for artisanal miners and their families, who do much of the hard work to get the gold into our hands. The Pure Earth Pure Gold collection is one of the ways we are connecting responsible gold miners to responsible jewellers to consumers to begin the transformation,” says Richard Fuller, Founder, Pure Earth.
The 2022 collection features Fairmined gold donated by industry leader Hoover and Strong.
Participating jewelers include Andrea Jose Castro, Ani Fine Jewelry, Sandrine B Jewelry, Bario Neal, Bondeye Jewelry, Brilliant Earth, Dana Bronfman, Susan Crow, Freebird, Futura, Catherine Grisez, Maya Kini, Delphine Leymarie, LOLiDE, Made Line, Christina Malle, Melissa Joy Manning, MERZATTA, Leigh Miller, Mina Stones, Anna Moltke-Huitfeldt, Hi June Parker Fine Jewelry, Patrizia NYC, Plume by Kate Collins, Toby Pomeroy, Andrea Pooler, Truss and Ore, Irene Weinz, WEND, Susan Wheeler, WWake, SharonZ.
Breaking the Gold and Mercury Connection
Pure Earth is currently working closely with leaders in the jewellery industry on solutions:
- Pure Earth works hand-in-hand with artisanal and small-scale gold miners to produce gold without the use of mercury, and to support the commercialisation of “clean” gold. To date Pure Earth has trained over 1000+ miners worldwide. Pure Earth works with miners to implement the best mercury-free approach for their mine, often increasing gold recovery rates. In the Amazon, an entire mining association can go mercury-free with just a handful of miners trained.
- Pure Earth has helped miners in the Peruvian Amazon plant over 10,000 seedings (15 different species) to restore land damaged by mining. Survival rate is high, at over 70%. Nearly 10 hectares of rainforest has been restored, serving as model for how mines can be closed.
- Pure Earth is also working with responsible miners and jewellery industry partners to test and create a “clean” gold supply chain.