Ethical Gold
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Ethical Gold supported by Kelompok Pendulang Pamuan Jaya
Meet Kelompok Pendulang Pamuan Jaya, a group of indigenous
gold miners. These 23 miners all belong to the Dayak Ngaju tribe. These women have been mining gold for generations.
Together with Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta, we set up a collaboration with these women in 2018. Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta is a non-profit organization educating miners and traders on clean mining practices and the dangers of mercury.
With our support, the women miners continue to hand pan for gold. This is a low impact mining method and follows a long standing tradition.
The group works in the tailings of an ex-mining area. Each member has pledged to:
- Not use mercury
- Not use cyanide
- No deforestation or clearing of new land to mine for gold
What Makes This Gold Ethical?
- Fully traceable supply chain
- Processed and refined separately from other gold
- No mercury or cyanide used during mining, smelting or refining
- Mined by female artisanal miners
- We purchase directly from the miners, cutting out the middlemen and making sure they receive fair pay
- We offset carbon emissions associated with mining this gold
What's Hand Panning
Hand panning is a traditional way to collect gold flakes
without the use of large machines. Even though it’s a
laborious and time consuming task, the panning method
doesn’t require digging deep holes, blasting hardrock or
bringing in diesel-fueled generators. Hand panning uses
gravity to separate gold dust from dirt and soil.
What Benefits Do The Miners Receive?
- Paid more than the village price
- Access to scholarships
- Quarterly bonuses
- Sunglasses and branded jacket
against the sun - Education on dangers of mercury use, alternative mining methods and gold smelting
- Administrative support Access to interest-free loans
- They love knowing where their gold ends up
What's The Deal with Mercury
Mercury is a toxic heavy chemical. Exposure to mercury can result in loss of vision, weakened muscles, impairment of hearing and speech, and deteriorated movement coordination. Babies and fetuses face even more serious
health risks because mercury exposure affects brain and nervous system development, damaging memory, cognitive thinking, language abilities, attention, and fine motor skills.
What Mercury Poisoning Can Look Like in Humans :
Mercury pollution also harms animal health, wildlife and ecosystems.
Gold mining is the largest source of mercury pollution. Many artisanal miners separate gold from other metals and particles by burning it with mercury. The gold binds to the mercury and separates from the other metals and dirt. In the process, the mercury evaporates. Mercury emitted into the air eventually settles into water or onto land where it can be washed into water. From there it cycles through the atmosphere, water and soil. Because of this natural cycle, mercury released in, say, Indonesia, could affect an entirely different part of the world, making mercury pollution a global concern.
Ethical Gold Journey
Gold Facts
The miners group has 26 members, all indigenous Dayak Ngaju women.
The group was established through a Decree of the Tewang Pajangan Village Government, and registered
through a Notarized Deed with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
The administrative side of setting up the group and training the women has been done by our partner NGO
Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS). According to their gender mapping, the members are in the lowest social
strata of the village. They lack access to capital, knowledge, skills and mining equipment.
Mining Location :
Desa Tewang Pajangan, Kec. Kurun, Kab. Gunung Mas
Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
The group works in the tailings of an ex-mining area. There is no deforestation or clearing of new land to mine for the gold.
Land status: village land
Mining Tehcnique
Low impact mining with gold panning. The miners use simple equipment, like small shovels, buckets and handmade wooden pans.
In early stages of the partnership program, the women attempted to learn the Manado method. This uses a water pump and a system to capture the gold. However, the women preferred the more manual method of gold panning, and decided to revert
back to this traditional method.
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Mercury Avoided
This partnership helps avoid 10 to 15 gram of mercury per gram of refined gold
Premium Payment
IDR 59,000 or ~USD 4.1 per gram of raw gold
Impacted People
114 people (direct & indirect)
Mercury Free Commitment
The group has signed an agreement to not use mercury. On top of that, each individual member has signed a pledge not to use any mercury to recover gold.
Gold Miners Profile
Leni Marlina (41)
I don’t just work for myself. I work to help my friends and fellow miners as well. It’s been a good learning process. I did many
things I've never done before, like I attend meetings, and speak in front of important officials. I was nervous, but I'm very proud I did it!
Priskila (38)
Although we both earn an income, I'm no longer dependent on my husband.
We’ve built a house from the money we’ve earned from panning for gold.
Dewi (32)
My husband is unemployed, so the money earned from panning gold everyday is really important for me. That way I can still provide for my kids and make sure they go to school.
Mini Maung (53)
The premium paid for our gold is great. It's the little extra that helps me with things like giving my kids pocket money. With the money I saved up, I also managed to have enough capital to open a small food stall I run from my house.
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