CRAFT Code planetGOLD version

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is one of the most significant sources of mercury release into the environment in developing countries. In the Philippines, ASGM occurs in more than 40 out of the 81 provinces and provides important subsistence-level income for about 500,000 miners including significant number of women and children. It supports the livelihood of about two (2) million people and comprises traditional and gold rush miners, most of whom operate without legal mining titles. In many cases, ASGM miners and their communities are vulnerable and are exposed to certain risks that, if not mitigated adequately, will affect their living conditions and access to sustainable development opportunities.
 
Recognizing these issues, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) - Global Opportunities for Long-Term Development (GOLD) Mongolia-Philippines: Contribution Toward the Elimination of Mercury in the ASGM Sector: From Miners to Refiners introduced financing schemes allowing miners to adopt and invest in mercury-free technologies in a sustainable manner and access international gold markets more directly. In line with this, the Project developed the Code of Risk Mitigation for Artisanal and Small-scale Miners engaging in Formal Trade (CRAFT) planetGOLD version, which is an application of the open-source standard CRAFT Code developed in conformance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidelines (DDG) and legislations derived from it.
 
The CRAFT Code planetGOLD version is basically a field operationalized version specific for the artisanal and small-scale mining sector that will be implemented at the project sites. It serves as an instrument to validate the eligibility of miners to sell and source minerals, which in turn support the efforts of legitimate artisanal and small-scale mining producers to sell their products to formal supply chains, and vice versa, help downstream supply chain actors to engage with legitimate producers. Moreover, this tool will support miners in creating risk management plans to prevent and mitigate environmental and social concerns stemming from mining activities.