CBRMT Study: Working With Producers to Responsibly Source Artisanal Gold from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The goal of this study was to analyze gold supply chains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the Capacity Building for a Responsible Minerals Trade (CBRMT) project to determine how to promote responsible conflict-free sourcing of gold, and apply due diligence consistent with international best practices. The work included the following elements:

  • A review of responsibly mined gold around the world to capture best practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for alignment based on similar international systems;
  • Meetings with existing artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold pilot projects and large-scale industrial gold operators in the DRC to identify best practices and challenges in establishing and scaling up legal export channels and supply chains for ASM gold from the region; and
  • Assessments of the efficacy, cost, transparency, credibility, and sustainability of existing efforts to promote responsible conflict-free sourcing of artisanal gold from the DRC.