Artisanal Gold Council celebrates receiving charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency

The Artisanal Gold Council (AGC) is pleased to announce that it has officially received Charitable Status from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This status will allow AGC to receive donations and issue charitable tax receipts for donors to use when they submit their annual income tax returns. “We are very excited about the opportunity to […]
Statement from AGC on Small-Scale Mine Fire in Peru

Victoria, BC – Roger Tissot, Executive Director of the Artisanal Gold Council (AGC), Dr. Kevin Telmer, Director of Innovation and Business Development, and Daniel Merino, Peru-based Project Consultant with AGC, released the following statement upon learning of a small- scale mine fire in Peru that killed 27 people: “On May 7, 2023, an electrical short-circuit […]
Thoughts on PDAC 2023 and AGC Goes to Ottawa

I entered the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s front entrance not knowing what to expect. I started my work with the Artisanal Gold Council in mid-January 2023 and was told that we would have a booth (in partnership with the planetGOLD programme) at PDAC 2023, referred to as “the largest mining conference in the world that welcomes […]
Nine Die in Gold Mine Collapse

At least nine workers died in a collapse at one of Burkina Faso’s many unregulated artisanal gold mines. Rescuers found four bodies last Tuesday night (7 February) at the mine in the western Tuy province, and another five the following morning. Read more…
Artisanal Gold Council Statement on Burkina Faso Mine Collapse

VICTORIA, BC – Kevin Telmer, Executive Director of the Artisanal Gold Council, released the following statement upon learning about a mine collapse in Burkina Faso: “All of us at the Artisanal Gold Council were saddened to learn about the deaths of nine artisanal gold miners in Burkina Faso’s Tuy province yesterday. Our hearts go out […]
Road to formalization: STAG advocate Kam Sié Dominique discusses formalization at Diarkadougou site

While Burkina Faso’s artisanal gold mining sector continues to grow, the informal nature of the sector has been doing the same. ASGM provides much-needed livelihood opportunities for Burkinabe men and women who lack other options that generate a similar income and ease of entry. However, that informal nature is also limiting and so, fortunately, it […]
ASGM stakeholders learn to use OECD due diligence guidelines through the STAG adapted version of the CRAFT Code

Now in its second year of implementation, the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals-funded Scalable Trade in Artisanal Gold project (the STAG project) has begun conducting workshops related to the OECD’s due diligence guidance and the STAG version of the CRAFT code which operationalizes the guidance, in the southwest region of Burkina Faso. STAG is executed […]
STAG’s Ousmane Hamadoum has a clear vision for Burkina Faso’s formalized Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Sector

The artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector has long been marginalized at least partly due to its informal nature. However, the global community has begun to recognize that ASGM is a driving force for rural economic development. When formalized, ASGM provides the millions of men and women who work in the upstream mining and […]
Mercury levels high in people near Amazon mega-dam

[SÃO PAULO] Constructing dams in the Brazilian Amazon could increase local residents’ exposure to unsafe mercury levels, warn researchers who analysed hair samples from 37 people living near Tucuruí, one of the largest dams ever built in Brazil. Read more…
Mercury-Free Gold: How You Can Protect The Future By Buying This Ethical And Sustainable Jewellery

Gold mining’s association with poor health and environmental damage has been unearthed over the years – but it’s still something many of us know little about. “People have heard about ‘blood diamonds’, but not many realise that their gold could be responsible for one of the world’s top toxic threats – mercury,” says Richard Fuller, […]