CRAFT Code
Initiative

The baseline that gets ASM gold in the door.

The CRAFT Code, by the Alliance for Responsible Mining and RESOLVE, is an open-source, OECD-aligned market-entry standard: it defines what an artisanal producer must evidence to start selling into formal supply chains. Version 2.1 (October 2024) extends it to aggregators, traders and processors.

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What it proves, and what it does not.

CRAFT is not a certification and does not declare a mine "responsible". It is a baseline: an OECD-aligned ladder of evidence through which an ASM producer demonstrates it is legitimate to buy from, module by module, so that a buyer can engage and improve rather than walk away.

Because it is open-source, other schemes build on it rather than compete with it: planetGOLD, the LBMA’s ASM work, Swiss Better Gold and Solidaridad all use or reference CRAFT. The Responsible Gold Credits programme in Tanzania pays USD 5 per gram on gold from mines meeting CRAFT modules 1-3.

Version 2.1, launched on 21 October 2024 with the full PDF in November 2024, extends the scope beyond producers to aggregators, traders and processors, and adds CRAFT-UA, an upstream assurance layer.

The mechanism

How the baseline works.

ModulesA progressive structure of requirements: buyers can peg engagement to module attainment, as Responsible Gold Credits does with modules 1-3.
CRAFT-UAThe upstream assurance extension introduced with v2.1.
Scope (v2.1)Extended from producers to aggregators, traders and processors.
Who uses itplanetGOLD, the LBMA ASM Toolkit (CRAFT-informed), Swiss Better Gold and Solidaridad use or reference it.
LicenceOpen source: any programme can adopt or adapt it without a gatekeeper.
Milestones

From v1 to a family of codes.

  1. 2018

    CRAFT v1 is published: a market-entry baseline for artisanal and small-scale mining, OECD-aligned from the start.

  2. 2020

    CRAFT v2 consolidates the code.

  3. 2024

    v2.1 launches on 21 October (full PDF in November): scope extended to aggregators, traders and processors, plus the CRAFT-UA upstream assurance layer.

  4. 2025

    The Mica CRAFT Code launches in January, extending the model beyond gold.

On the Hub

More of the responsible-gold landscape, mapped.

The CRAFT Code is one of the standards and programmes tracked, source-rated and dated on the Gold Hub. Browse the register, or tell us what is missing.