The More You Know,The Less Gold Glows

The recent Hollywood release, Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio, may be on your holiday viewing list. The film has received widespread media attention because it highlights how the illegal diamond trade has helped to fuel and finance armed conflict in parts of Africa.

Gold mining, too, bears the scars of conflict, destruction, and human rights abuse. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), armed groups fighting for control of gold mines and trading routes have tortured and killed civilians and used gold sales to buy weapons. Rather than bringing prosperity to the nation, gold has been a cause of enormous human suffering in the DRC.

Use these helpful facts and figures about Gold Mining that we are seldom aware of:

• Gold mining is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. The production of a single gold wedding ring generates 20 tons of mine waste.
• As with "blood diamonds," gold mining bears the scars of conflict, destruction, and human rights abuse. Gold mining fueled a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo that led to more civilian deaths than any war since World War II.
• In places as diverse as Guatemala, Ghana, Peru, and Indonesia, local communities and indigenous peoples have encountered intimidation, abuse, and even violent suppression when voicing opposition to mining projects.
• The majority of gold is used to make jewelry. Jewelers should ensure that they are not selling their customers gold that has been produced at the expense of communities and the environment.
• Jewelers can take an important step by endorsing the No Dirty Gold campaign's "Golden Rules" and supporting an independent certification system to weed out "dirty gold."

Here are some recent news articles about the Blood Diamond film:

• "Measuring a diamond's true price," The New York Times, 17 December 2006
• "Diamonds are for never?" The New York Times, 14 December 2006
• "Ice that draws fire," The Montreal Gazette, 20 December 2006
• "Blood diamond tells necessary story," The Baltimore Examiner, 14 December 2006