The World Gold Council and leading gold mining companies and refiners recently developed the Conflict-Free Gold Standard. The standard, which was published in October 2012, is based on well-known frameworks, including the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected Areas and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. The Conflict-Free Gold Standard is a framework by which gold miners can show that their operations have not caused, supported, or benefited unlawful armed conflict or contributed to serious human rights abuses or breaches of international humanitarian law.
The Conflict-Free Gold Standard is designed, in part, to “operationalize” the OECD guidance for gold miners. One example of this is the creation of an approach to determine which areas should be considered “conflict-affected or high-risk.” The OECD Guidance does not designate such areas nor does it provide guidance on how such areas should be identified.
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