The Chede mine is not an easy place for an outsider to arrive. To reach its location, deep in the Cauca Valley Montane forest, Nigora, along with photographer José Pedro Cortes and filmmaker Errol Rainey, drove for hours on winding roads from the nearest airport city. Throughout the journey, reminders of the region’s realities were constant. Illegal mining, and the often-related drug-trafficking and crime are rampant and visible.
In contrast with industrial mining, and in many regions with specific geological conditions, artisanal and small‐scale mining operations (ASM) have roots in ancient history. Traditionally, ASM mining has been carried out by rural communities as their main economic activity, providing work opportunities for millions around the world. However, the vast majority of workers in many of these communities are involved in illegal mines, those without regulation and frequently in service of a larger ring of illicit activity. Fairmined certified mines foster the continuation of local customs, but adhere to strict labor and safety guidelines—protecting workers and helping to nurture their communities.
Chede mine is the only Fairmined certified location in Cauca. Surrounded in close proximity by many illegal operations, its visual contrasts are abundant. Illegal mines are difficult for the untrained eye to recognize. Possibly by design, they appear as nothing more than big holes in the earth. Chede intentionally presents as a legitimate operation. Its colorful, welcoming infrastructure, emblazoned with a Fairmined seal, is a safe-harbor for its community of miners.
But, the distinctions of a Fairmined operation go well beyond what our eyes can only see. The key to Chede, and small-scale mines like it, is in the spirit of its community. Fairmined makes significant investments in the people who pursue their certification. They offer not only premiums on gold, but also therapy, family and educational resources, insurance, food, and increased safety. However, choosing to join Fairmined is just that—an active choice. And it's a choice that many in the region continue to resist, still seeing legality as burdensome and regulatory.
Working exclusively with Fairmined gold poses unique financial and logistical challenges for business partners as well, including premiums and limitations on supply chain partners. Tabayer chooses to absorb the additional costs associated with ethical business practices, in order to remain competitive while supporting the Chede miners. Both have chosen to do their part to protect the earth from the adverse effects of environmental exploitation.
About The Alliance for Responsible Mining
The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) was established in 2004 and is a leading global expert on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). The aim of the organization is to transform the ASM sector into a socially and environmentally responsible one, while encouraging its legitimacy and profitability. ARM empowers small-scale and artisanal miners to adopt the best environmental practices and advocates for their inclusion in the formal economy. They create voluntary standard systems for production and trade, and support the creation of responsible supply chains.
By guiding small-scale mines on the path to organization, responsible mining, and eventually, selling and marketing their gold legally, ARM helps mitigate the worst risks associated with the industrial mining sector, including child and forced labor, conflict financing, and money laundering. Their efforts improve the quality of life of artisanal miners, their families, and their communities, transforming ASM mines into sustainable and economically viable businesses.
About Fairmined Gold
The final stage of ARM’s Sustainable Mines Program is a Fairmined Certification, which guarantees to business partners a standard of traceable gold, extracted with the best, sustainable, and humanitarian mining practices.
Fairmined is the highest level of responsible mining and its certification can take years to achieve. In addition to receiving a fair market price for the gold they produce, certified miners receive a premium—benefiting their communities and allowing them to continue their process of improvement and development.
The incentive of a Fairmined certification encourages ASM mines to carry out projects in favor of human rights, gender equality, and environmental longevity. Fairmined certifications are renewed and audited every year, ensuring that mines continue to comply with the technical, legal and environmental requirements.
By partnering with Alliance for Responsible Mining and exclusively using Fairmined Gold, Tabayer commits to investing in the community of Chede mine, and like-minded partners.
Sourcing Methods
The Extraction Method
In small-scale, underground mining operations, like that of Mina Chede, miners excavate tunnels and galleries through rock using manual tools and simple equipment, such as electric drills, shovels, and hand-pushed transportation carts. Tunnels and galleries can be horizontal or inclined, and extend along the mineral deposit.
When a gold vein is reached, miners extract the gold-bearing rock and carry it to the surface for processing. At Chede, processing plants use crushing and grinding
techniques to liberate gold from the host rock, and process it in a controlled manner with substances that allow the separation of gold from extra material. The gold is then smelted into ingots and offered to authorized Fairmined refiners. As a byproduct, Chede also obtains silver, which is sold with Fairmined seal.
Small-scale gold mining with these high-standard requirements implies significant challenges in terms of investment in clean technologies, payment for external consultancy services, training, electrical implementations, third-party audits, and personal protective equipment for miners. These prohibitive factors discourage many from pursuing certification. The majority of the ASM sector has yet to grasp the importance of responsible mining and its effect on the environment and human rights. Therefore, certified mines are seen as leaders in the sector—having taken the initiative to reform for the good of their community and the earth.
“Barequeo”—an Indigenous Technique of River Panning
In a community neighboring the Chede, one can find Cauca’s river mine—a smaller, yet culturally significant operation. In their travels to this location, Nigora and team learned about the indigenous gold mining process known in Spanish as “Barequeo”.
According to Colombian anthropologist and researcher Neyla Espitia, the method of extracting gold from rivers is based on traditional techniques that have been used by indigenous communities for centuries. Barequeo is the process of searching for gold deposits in and along the banks of local rivers, with simple tools such as pans, shovels, and sieves. When heavy gold is found, gravity encourages it to settle at the base of one’s chosen discovery instrument, while flowing water washes lighter materials away.
This simple and timeless method does not involve the use of chemicals or heavy machinery, circumventing any harm to the river’s ecosystem. Barequeo is exclusively carried out during dry seasons, when streams and rivers are low, thus respecting the natural cycles of the aquatic ecosystem.
Despite its cultural significance and environmental lean, Barequeo is painstaking work for those involved, and it often results in very little saleable gold. The primarily-female communities who engage in these activities are often extremely impoverished, and live with very limited basic resources for their families, such as food and childcare.
Currently the Alliance for Responsible Mining is working with several associations of female “Barequeras”, who engage in river panning two or three days each week. Their hope is not only to formalize their activity and help them to receive fair wages, but to build an economic structure for these women. Fairmined premiums can help them to grow their communities and build new businesses, ideally creating multiple streams of income and decreasing their dependance on gold.
Fair Gold Campaign
Photography: José Pedro Cortes
Film: Errol Rainey
Art direction: Buero Paris
