Artisanal and small-scale gold

Everything published on artisanal and small-scale gold, rated by the evidence behind it.

Claims about responsibly sourced gold are easy to make and hard to check. The evidence sits in refiner lists, government gazettes, standards bodies and investigations. The Gold Hub gathers it, links each entry to its source, rates the evidence behind it, and re-checks as the sources move.

See what the Hub holdsStart with the basics
Gold nuggets of widely different sizes lying scattered across dark slate, as they were found.
Where it comes from

The evidence exists. Knowing where to look is the hard part.

These are the source families the sector’s evidence actually comes from. Each covers one part of the trade, and publishes in its own format, on its own schedule, in its own language.

Refiner and market registersAccredited-refiner and good-delivery lists, published as live tables and revised without notice.
Mine and community registriesThe registries of independently assessed mine sites and of certified artisanal communities.
Standards bodiesThe assurance schemes, their criteria, their scope, and what each one does not cover.
Binding regulationTrade instruments, implementing decisions, disclosure rules and sanctions listings.
National official journalsProducing countries publish their acts at home first, in their own languages, well before any trade press carries them.
Convention secretariatsThe meetings and decisions behind the sector's mercury and due-diligence commitments.
Donor and programme corporaThe programmes funding formalisation and mercury-free processing, and the archives they leave behind.
InvestigationsThe reporting that tests the rest, and the responses it draws.
Who it is for

Procure, invest and engage on something you can check.

The Hub does not tell anyone what to conclude. It puts the evidence within reach, with its origin attached, so the reader can weigh it.

Procure

A buyer sourcing artisanal gold can see which assurance schemes cover what, which registers a counterparty appears in, and how far a claim traces back.

Invest

A funder or a financier can compare how jurisdictions actually govern the sector, which programmes are running, and what the reporting says about each.

Engage

A small-scale operator can find the formalisation routes, the market-access schemes and the support programmes that apply where they work.

A panner’s bowl of black sediment with a bright seam of gold separated out along its edge.
How to read it

Every claim carries its evidence, its source and its date.

Nothing here is asserted without a source. Each entry links to the document it came from, carries a rating for how much independent evidence stands behind it, and shows the date it was last checked.

Where the evidence is thin or the sources disagree, the Hub publishes the disagreement.

Read the method
Get involved

Start with a question, or add what is missing.

Everything here is built to be used directly, and to be improved by anyone who knows more than it does.

See what the Hub holdsSuggest a source