Mike Angenent On The Oro Verde Project: A Fairjewelry.org Interview
Introductory Comments:
There are between 16 and 20 million small scale miners around the world, and they support over 100 million people with their efforts. Many of these artisanal miners eek out their survival digging for gold, often with disastrous results to their own health and the environment.
While many people who are environmentally concerned opt for recycled gold, such gold provides no real development benefit. The most ideal situation occurs when the economic impact of the jewelry sector can be maximized for the beneficiation of small scale mining communities.
Oro Verde, a project that supports communities, is a widely acclaimed model for ethically sourced gold from small scale miners. Gold is mined with hand tools without chemicals and the surface area is entirely restored.
Mike Angenent recently visited some Oro Verde mines. Mike is the founder of Jewel Tree Foundation and Open Source Minerals, which provides traceable gemstones and melee diamonds. I conducted this interview by email in early 2010.
Mike’s own experience of Oro Verde was published in the previous post.
~ Marc Choyt, Publisher
MC: Oro Verde is remarkable project, particularly because it is so producer centered. What were conditions led to this initiative?
Mike: People were poor. Most have been mining gold in this particular area in Colombia for over 500 years — after being brought there by the Conquistadors. These families still have by law, preferential rights over their ancestral territories and are, in some cases and with consent of the local government, lucky enough to mine it and make an income out of it.
However, mining it still means getting around on an average of a few dollars a day. So when a mining ‘cowboy’ comes along and offers a few hundred dollars to mine the area for a few months, most families are happy to give their preferential rights away. Three months later their land has a hole fifty meters deep and a few football fields wide. If they are lucky, no additional damage by chemicals is done.
What remains is a great spot to lay a foundation for a skyscraper but of little use to grow bananas.
MC: I’m trying to understand how Oro Verde came about versus what you see in other small scale gold mines where mining produces catastrophic results for the environment and even the miner communities?
Mike: The families involved in Oro Verde don’t have to use mercury or cyanide, as there is no hard rock mining. Furthermore, the conditions required by Oro Verde are monitored very well and checked upon regularly. For instance, they get help in replanting the mined areas which is required after three years of mining. They mine with hand tools, as opposed to hard rock mining which is done by machinery.
MC: What are the possibilities or challenges in reproducing the Oro Verde program in other nations where these conditions might not exist?
Mike: Well, the largest problem for Oro Verde and other small scale mining projects is getting everyone to look in the same direction at the long term benefits.
It is quite hard to convince people that live on an average of one dollar a day to not sell out to their local ‘cowboy’ and instead look for the long term benefits of a program like Oro Verde.
Having more retailers and manufacturers actually buy their gold is the best incentive they can have. It is also one of the reasons I initiated the Jeweltree Foundation to give these manufactures an extra incentive to start working with these ASM projects.
MC: I’ve heard that supply is an issue. Will gold from Oro Verde remain a boutique item for high end bespoke customers?
Mike: Supply is only an issue because demand is an issue. There are plenty of families in Colombia or elsewhere that would be willing and able to join the program. It is true that the prices remain higher — or perhaps, gold fix rates are too. But with enough people on board, it can be commercially interesting for all parties involved. Besides, it is not a high end or only bespoke. Fifi Bijoux is doing a lot of 9kt in Oro Verde gold that sells very well.
MC: Are there any efforts in the works to take the Oro Verde model and duplicate it? Could it be a seed for other Artisan Small Scale (ASM) projects?
Mike: It IS a seed and model for all the other ASM projects. ARM (Alliance for Responsible Mining) is initiated out of the model of Oro Verde and duplicating it as we speak. The only thing is that the transparency issue seems to get lost on the way, as they wish to sell ASM gold as a new commodity.
Getting it fair trade labeled is interesting at first, but would totally disregard the ecological circumstances along the way which are so important. Don’t get me wrong, I hold ARM and FLO very big, but I still believe that transparency is both necessary and possible.
MC: Are you buying the gold directly from Oro Verde and refining it—or are you being supplied by others—such as Cred?
Mike: Actually I am buying directly, but in cooperation with Cred and Fifi and Flamingo. We try to combine purchases – and refining – as much as possible. This is the only way to keep transparency not only possible but also commercially viable.
Small batch refining is expensive, but what use is it to buy gold from a project like Oro Verde and have it refined and combined in the same batch with any other gold only to get it back as a percentage on a sheet of paper? I believe that when my customers ask for Oro Verde they should get Oro Verde and not Oro Verde mixed with A, B and C mined gold. It is a symbol of love and light and should not be treated as a carbon emission.
MC: Suppose gold was at $1000. I want to buy an once of Oro Verde Gold from you. What will I have to pay—outside of the expense of shipping, which could be an additional $100.
Mike: Actually Marc, I am not saying you should buy gold from me. You should buy gold WITH me. I don’t believe that there is any money in buying and selling gold. Only risk. When I have bought my gold at a low price and can sell high I can think I am lucky but I would still have to buy new gold, so where is the profit? There is none!
I truly wish to promote and push Oro Verde and other ASM gold onto the market. The only costs are the premium, which is justifiable in my opinion, and the refining. Refining costs can only go down when the numbers go up. So I urge others to join and combine their efforts. All the work is done. We have good refiners who can do relatively small batch refining. We have insurance policies that cover gold exports from Colombia. All that is needed now is more people willing to buy directly or indirectly. Offering service is key here.
MC: Are there plans for US distribution of Oro Verde Gold?
Mike: Place your order and we’ll get things going!
MC: For those of us who are following small scale mining issues, what are the most important lessons that Oro Verde has to teach us?
Mike: That even buying a few grams or selling two wedding rings (lets say 40grams gold) is sustaining a family over in Colombia for over a month. That gives a whole new perspective when you are questioning whether or not your involvement is making sense.
It does!
