How Important is Ethical Sourcing?

Consumer demand for ethically sourced and sustainable products has grown in recent years, partly as a result of a greater awareness of the impact of manufacturing upon producers but also due to increased scrutiny over the environmental impact of metals mining.

This has prompted a move towards more fully traceable and transparent sourcing of metals in the minting industry, including single mine origin, fair-mined and recycled gold.

First Single Mine Gold Bullion Coin from RCM

The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) launched its first, fully segregated single mine gold bullion coin in October this year (see CMN November). The 1oz $50 Pure Gold Maple Leaf coin is composed entirely of gold extracted by Agnico Eagle at its Meliadine Mine in Nunavut (Canada).

The coin is protected by Bullion DNA™, a proprietary technology that creates a unique digital fingerprint that can be used to authenticate each item. The privy mark, of a hand cradling a globe, symbolises the single-source provenance of the coin’s 99.99% pure gold, and the coin packaging includes a certificate of purity and authenticity signed by the Mint’s Chief Assayer.

‘Precious metal investors have long trusted the Royal Canadian Mint for the market- leading purity and security of its bullion products. As an LBMA-accredited Good Delivery refiner, they can also count on us for responsibly sourcing the gold and silver we refine,’ said Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the RCM.

The RCM has incorporated a five-step process as part of its Responsible Metals Program, aiming to identify and validate the chain of custody of all incoming gold or silver-bearing refining deposits. These steps are: 

1. Establish strong management systems

2. Identify and assess risks in the supply chain

3. Design and implement a management strategy to respond to identified risks

4. Arrange for an independent third party audit of the supply chain due diligence

5. Report publicly on supply chain due diligence.

Fairmined Gold Certification for Monnaie de Paris

As part of its ‘Paix’ (Peace) coin series launched to mark the centenary of the First World War, Monnaie de Paris – the French Mint – launched the first coin made with Fairmined certified gold in France in 2018. The coin was a collaboration between Monnaie de Paris and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (creators of the Fairmined Standard), and European coin company Samlerhuset.

This was followed by a ¼ oz D-Day coin in 2019, created to mark the 75th anniversary of the Normandy Landings that took place on 6 June 1944. The Monnaie de Paris said the coin demonstrated ‘a long-lasting commitment of our institution to source Fairtrade gold’, with the packaging sleeves bearing the Fairmined label as proof of the Mint’s ethical involvement.

In the same year, a third Fairmined certified coin was produced to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

In 2020, the Mint put forward ‘a philosophical vision of peace’ with its €200 1 oz coin celebrating 75 Years of Peace. The coin was designed as a collaboration between Monnaie de Paris artistic director Joaquin Jimenez (reverse side) and American sculptor of contemporary figures Eugene Daub (obverse side). The coin was one of three finalists in the Best New Environmental Sustainability Project category at the recent IACA Excellence in Currency Awards for Coins.

A Fairmined certification guarantees that the gold is produced by autonomous small scale craft mines, supporting traceability, and provides protections for the environment and working conditions of the miners. The metal’s price is also guaranteed as fair, including a premium to support local development.

To find out more information about Fairmined gold, visit https://fairmined.org/.

The Royal Mint

The Royal Mint (TRM) first launched its gold exchange-traded commodity (ETC) in partnership with ETF (exchange-traded funds) issuer HANetf in 2020. Earlier this year, TRM renamed its ETC to ‘The Royal Mint Responsible Sourced Physical Gold ETC (RMAU)’, as it became the world’s first ETC to be backed by recycled gold.

Surplus gold was refined into London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) ‘Good Delivery’ bars for the ETC reserves, and included ‘swarf’, the gold dust discarded during the engraving of commemorative coins.

TRM is also utilising precious metals recovered from waste electrical and electronic equipment in its luxury jewellery brand 886, which takes its name from the period the mint was founded, circa 886. It is the first luxury jewellery line to use 100% recovered gold sourced from discarded electronic waste.

The Mint is currently building a new sustainable precious metals factory on its site in South Wales, which is to be used for extracting the metal from e-waste, and is working on a process to extract more silver from used electronics. The factory is scheduled to be fully operational next year and expects to extract metals from approximately 90 tonnes of electronic waste per week (see Currency News April).