MINING REFINING

Clearer definition of gold recycling urged

Tue April 23 2024

A group of charities and responsible-trade bodies has called for a clearer definition of recycled gold. Eleven organisations signed an open letter urging a crackdown on the way the precious metal is branded when reused.

They wrote to authorities including the London Bullion Markets Association warning that the term recycled often falsely implied to consumers that gold had a “decisive positive social and environmental imapct”.

In fact much reused gold was not saved from a waste stream but reworked into another item using “business as usual” practices, said the letter. “We have yet to see a landfill full of gold jewellery,” it added.

The group said mining was “vital” to the livelihoods of 100 million people around the world.

Artisanal and small-scale gold digging offered a huge “opportunity” to make social and environmental impact, it added.

Industry should “adopt a definition of recycled gold consistent with international, legal and normative definitions of recycling” said the letter.

This should be “transparent” about the pros and cons of reusing the material, insisted the group, which is led by the Alliance for Responsible Mining.

Source: https://www.rebnews.com/