Love is in the Fair(trade) and it’s gold

The most romantic day of the year has been and gone but Valentines Day 2011 was like no other. No, Opulent Ethics was not inundated with sacks of cards, chocolates and roses…something much better happened. Yes, that’s right; Fairtrade and Fairmined gold finally arrived in the UK.

It has been a long journey for Fairtrade gold from leaving home in the Cotapata Mine, the worlds first Fairtrade mine, in Bolivia to arriving in the UK. Whilst some of us were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold many others were not even aware it was on its way. So Opulent Ethics have had a look at the welcome reception that the UK offered.

World's first Fairtrade Fairmined gold bar with hallmarks

The Daily Mail spoke at length about how Fairtrade gold will help stop the exploitation of some of the worlds most vulnerable communities by helping mines ensure they reach certain standard conditions. The only problem is that it is not so simple to change your local mine overnight. Hopefully the Cotapata Mine will be an inspiration to others to follow suit.

The Ecologist tried to focus on the future and mentioned some of the big names such as Ingle & Rhode and Garrards who have signed up to become license holders and work with the gold.

The full list of those who are now licensed to work using the Fairtrade gold can be found on the site of the Jewellery Editor.

It was all finance, facts and figures in The Telegraph as they concentrated on how the Fairtrade food revolution worked and whether the gold can carry on the trend.

The Independent looked at which celebrities we can expect to see wearing Fairtrade gold jewellery (Livia Firth is rumoured to be intending to wear it on the red carpet at the Oscars).

And finally, Kate Carter, ethical extraordinaire with The Guardian, let rip with a long piece on the real intention of all Fairtrade products; to stop the abject horror faced by those who get us our coffee, bananas and now gold.

It is nice to see that, despite the story not gaining as much attention as it deserves that it has been done some justice!

That’s all for now….

Ute Decker and Linnie McLarty’s pop-art!

Everything has a “pop” to it these days…pop tarts, pop art, pop music, even pop-up shops and the latest is a pop up gallery. Taking place on

Columbia Road

in Hackney, an area renowned for its sweet smelling Sunday Flower Market this month long exhibition space definitely has the snap, crackle and pop!

Opulent Ethics were lucky enough to be invited to the preview evening on Thursday where we got to view some of the first Fairtrade gold nuggets which goes on sale on Monday 14^th February.

Both Ute Decker’s and Linnie McLarty’s jewellery looked stunning in its new home in Gallery 94 at 94 Columbia Road. There had been an amazing transformation of the space from, what is normally, a fully-functioning workshop, into a sleek, clean beautiful display space for the 2 designer-makers.

Both Ute and Linnie created new pieces which will be produced in the world’s first Fairtrade gold from Cotapata Mine in Bolivia, when it becomes available on Valentines Day. Alongside these beautiful new pieces were ranges of Ute Decker’s sculptural jewellery made from recycled silver and sunflower bio-resin and Linnie McLarty’s colourful, enamelled, clever brooches and hand-made jewellery.

Ute Decker's PURE Arm Sculpture in gold

Linnie McClarty's Brooch

So how did the jewellery look in Fairtrade gold? Did it have an extra sparkle to it? Ute believes that;

“you first fall in love with this jewellery because of the beauty, boldness, and uniqueness of it‘s appearance, and then you learn about it’s inner beauty and ethical make-up and fall in love all over again”.

And Opulent Ethics has to agree. This new gold signifies actual improvements in the lives and environment of mining communities.

And it certainly seems to have got people talking. Esteemed guests at the event included Maurice Mullen from the Evening Standard, Laura McCreddie Editor at Retail Jeweller, Muriel Wilson from the Association of Contemporary Jewellery, Victoria Waugh from the Fairtrade Foundation and Della Tinsley, the Managing Director of London Jewellery Week.

But, more importantly, Juana Pena Endora from the Cotapata Cooperative in Bolivia, the world's first Fairtrade and Fairmined mine, and Manuel Reinoso Rivas, a Peruvian miner and Vice-Chair for the Alliance for Responsible Mining in Peru were in attendance. Both miners had experienced flying and left their respective countries for the first time to take part in the release of Fairtrade gold in the UK. So far they have attended and spoken at events in London, met with those who will be working with the gold, such as Weston Beamor who will be licensed to cast using the gold, at Birmingham’s Jewellery Show and, when we spoke to them, were on their way to Wales to see how mining in the UK compares to that at home.

Opulent Ethics thinks that it was truly valuable and inspiring to see and meet these people who work day and night to acquire the materials that we use to produce our work. These are the people who are fighting to make changes for themselves and their communities and are the people that initiatives, such as Fairtrade gold, is trying to reach. We think that it is time for the curtain to rise and for names and faces to be put to the millions of people who are involved in small-scale, artisanal mining and who have been anonymous for too long.   

For both Juana and Manuel their journey seems to have been an eye-opening education but, hopefully, may have reassured them that they are not alone in their fight. Some of the biggest names in jewellery are now coming together to improve the chances of Fairtrade gold and, by default, those whose lives are entangled in its production.

During the evening Juana was presented with one of Linnie’s silver Chrysanthemum rings which she had tried on in gold earlier in the evening. This generous gift by Linnie was met with incredulity and tears. Hopefully it will be taken back to Bolivia as a symbol of the hope and faith that we all have in the success of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold and, more importantly, in the belief that we can all work together to improve the lives of Juanas and Manuels everywhere.   

      

 

Juana Pena Endora wearing Linnie McClarty's Chrysanthemum Ring in gold

For further information and photos of the evening please see Ute Decker’s website. For other stories regarding the release of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold please see the Professional Jeweller website. And if you wish to see the beautiful jewellery for yourself, Gallery 94 is open until Sunday 27^th February and is definitely worth a look.

That’s all for now….

A gold mine that we can be proud to use!

Opulent Ethics are a bit behind the times in this post. Over the Christmas / New Year festive period news emerged of Cotapata, the worlds first Fair-trade, Fair-mined gold mine opening in Bolivia. So how fair is it? And does it sound too fair to be true?

On the negative side, the mine is placed in a National Park. The mine was in action before National Park status was awarded to the area but it must still be remembered that even with certified clean and fair practices, mining is still a destructive and dirty business.

  Road in the Yungas cloud forest

The Cotapata National Park is considered tiny at 583 sq-km and is situated near to La Paz where workers can commute from and where the gold is exported to for refining and deployment elsewhere. Laid across hills and mountains with elevations of almost 4,500m, the Cotapata National Park makes up part of the Yungas Cloud Forest. The hot, humid, rainy weather in the region makes this region full of flora and fauna which is still being discovered. More common vegetation includes avocado, coffee, guava and citrus fruits. It is also believed that the Yungas region also contains the last remaining evergreen forests which originated due to the Quaternary glaciers. It is, therefore, an area which requires protection.

The Cotapata mine is, currently, producing 3kg of gold per month. A quick search on the internet reveals that other, non-ethical, large scale mines can produce in the region of 2000kg per month. So the amount is small but everything has to start somewhere.

So what are the positive things about the mine? It produces 3kg of gold per month. Large-scale mines are able to produce the amount they do because of the more harmful processes they employ and destructive machinery they use. To have a mine which is not only Fair-trade (paying a fair wage to its workers and a premium to local communities) but Fair-mined (more environmentally friendly techniques are used) is amazing and all involved should be very proud.

Cotapata Fair-trade, Fair-mined gold mine workers

It is 3^rd party certified. This has to be the main positive point about this. Here is a decisive move towards having fully transparent supply chains in the ethical jewellery industry, something that we have been waiting a long time for.

As well as the certification there are numerous renowned organisations which have been involved in the development of the mine including; the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation and the Alliance for Responsible Mining, both of whom are big players in the world of ethical jewellery and, in this instance, are able to lend their support and, therefore, their members confidence in Cotapata.

And then of course, there are all the wonderful positives which are normally associated with Fair-trade; a fair price for the produce (for Cotapata there have been problems with the export taxes in Bolivia which will now be overcome), improvement in local communities (education is being improved in a neighbouring village), improved work standards (the mine accommodation and facilities are being improved) and work ethics (women and men are employed equally and all are paid well above the average Bolivian miners wage).

Also, by coming under the banner of Fair Trade, this gold has a market already existing for it. The miners or their representatives will not have to search very far to find ethically conscious jewellers who are willing to pay that little bit more for that clean, traceable supply chain and Opulent Ethics believe it won’t be very long until we see other small-scale mines following in Cotapata’s very wise footsteps!

That’s all for now….