Ultimately, precious metals are always beautiful: flawless materials, pure, and with a high level of emotional significance, especially in the case of gold.
But how does the story of a piece of jewellery read in the beginning? Can it also be told without exploitation, without damage to the environment?
Yes, by using fair and responsible precious metals.
This is best illustrated by the example of gold. Gold has always been recycled, collected, separated, recast. Following the principle of Reduce – Reuse – Recycle there is a fresh focus on recycled gold in times of increased gold demand, as the best, most resource-efficient option for fair and responsible gold. This is because it neither places a fresh strain on the environment as a result of harmful mining, nor do people have to work in disgraceful, unregulated conditions for our jewellery.
For a Clean and Responsible Future: Fair Precious Metals with ÖGUSSA
Let’s rewrite the story – the story of a piece of gold that has been mined sometime and somewhere, mined under conditions that we don’t know and that we can no longer influence. However, what we can do is to ensure, with immediate effect, that no further damage is done.
Sustainable Recycled Gold: Protecting People and the Environment
By recycling gold that is already in circulation, no mercury and no cyanide are required for mining, so there is a strain neither on workers’ health nor on the groundwater. There is also no need to dig ever deeper and more dangerous shafts and therefore to risk human lives. Instead, for recycled gold, the previous metal is recovered at responsible, certified separating plants, such as Ögussa, from private, old jewellery that is sold for cash. It is therefore available as recovered gold for new jewellery.
Certified Small-Scale Mining: A Fair Source for Sustainable Gold
The second key source of fair gold is certified small-scale mining. Organisations such as Fairtrade (FLO) and Fairmined (ARM) ensure that the working conditions in the cooperating mines are humane: no child labour, and fair wages, as well as compulsory safety equipment and training on handling of the required chemicals.
Limited Availability of Green Gold
The third type of fair gold is the gold that is laboriously panned in the traditional way, with no cyanide and no mercury. This gold is also called green gold. However, the usable quantities are marginal and therefore not an option for jewellers.
Responsible Precious Metals: The ÖGUSSA Statement for a Better Future
Fair and responsible precious metals are truly “materials for a better life”. This is a statement to our customers and a statement by our customers.
We have done a great deal to be able to make this statement both clearly and verifiably. Details of the Umicore Way, our code of conduct, our conflict-free and sustainable supply chain in procurement, and our certifications of these can be found here.
An Austrian initiative, the ARFG Alliance for Responsible and Fair Gold, likewise focuses intensively on this topic: www.fairesgold.org.
We encourage all potential stakeholder groups to ask questions about our supply chain, and with this in mind we offer you the opportunity to contact our CEO, Marcus Fasching, directly (in his dual role as our Chain of Custody Representative) either by e-mail to marcus.fasching@oegussa.at or by phone on +43 1 866 46-4310.