Fair Trade And Ethically Sourced Jewelry

Introduction:

We now return to Greenland, to learn of the latest event from Niels Madsen, who continues to struggle to maintain right to collect rubies.

(Niels Madsen)

After the home rule government came into power last June 21st, there was some optimism that small scale mining might be supported in Greenland. Fair trade jewelry activist and staff writer, Greg Valerio, attended early meetings between the 16th August Union and Greenland’s Bureau of Mining and Petroleum (BMP) reported the change with some optimism, and a “spirit of good faith.” Now, as Madsen states, Greenland will have to continue to struggle to maintain even minimal rights, stating:

“The way I see it, the self rule government is taking ALL rights from the indigenous population.”

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Tags: Editorial, Ethics, Fair Trade Gems, Greenland Rubies, Interviews, Mining, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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Introduction:

We now return back to Greenland, where the Inuits represented by the 16th August Union, continue in their negotiations with the Bureau of Mining and Petroleum (BMP). Despite the advent of the new home rule government, and the optimism presented in early posts, The BMP continue to deny Inuit small scale mining their right as indigenous people, under Article 32 of their Constitution. Until the discovery of valuable ruby by the Canadian mining company, True North Gems (TNG), Inuit were able to freely collect and sell stones from their ancestral land, which is communally owned.
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Tags: Announcements, Editorial, Ethics, Fair Trade Gems, Greenland Rubies, Mining, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Greg Valerio
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Introduction: Greg Valerio, a prominent activist in the fair trade jewelry movement, has officially resigned from his company. Freed from the business he founded, he intends to focus on the fair trade jewelry issues exclusively. See his resignation letter below. Greg is also a staff writer for fairjewelry.org.

~ Marc Choyt, Publisher

I am writing to announce that as of the 30th September I will no longer be a Director of CRED, the fair trade jewellery company that I founded in 1996. I have had a fantastic 13 years pioneering in the for-profit sector of the fair trade market in jewellery and against all odds as a company CRED has proved that physical traceability in the jewellery sector is possible, if not without its considerable challenges.

As the fair trade jewellery concept and movement has grown and developed particularly over the last 5 years I have been privileged enough to work with some amazing small scale mining communities from the mountains of Bolivia, jungles of Colombia and polar regions of Greenland. All of these communities, against the odds, have battled and in the case of my friends in Greenland continue to battle against the odds to prove that fair trade certifiable and traceable metals and stones is and are possible. The dignity of our collective work is captured in the concept of fair trade for the small scale miners who will directly benefit from it and the consumers who will wear our products with pride.

Yet there is still much to do. Therefore, I have taken the decision to remove myself from the commercial sector so I can dedicate myself, alongside my friends in the Alliance for Responsible Mining and the Fairtrade Movement to campaign and speak for the transformation of the jewellery sector through traceable fair trade certified metals and gemstones. Fair trade is owned by everyone and no one company can own it, whether in the gold, diamond or gemstone market. In short, I am going back to my roots of campaigning and advocating for human rights, indigenous rights and environmental justice.

I leave CRED in a strong state with an excellent jewellery offer, a new and rapidly growing ethical and fair trade bullion business, an excellent dynamic team and an exciting future and my prayers are for their success. They are the world’s finest fair trade fine jewellers and I am very proud of what we have achieved together.

Long may the winds of change blow strong.

Greg Valerio

Please support the small-scale miners of Greenland in their fight for the re-legalisation of small scale mining in Greenland (recently banned under Danish law) and their desire to sell ruby to the international community by signing the online petition at www.freegreenlandruby.com

Tags: Announcements, Environment, Ethical Jewelry, Ethics, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Jewelry, Greenland Rubies, Mining, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Greg Valerio
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GIA Publishes Abstract Of The Greenland Ruby

As part of our ongoing coverage of Greenland ruby and related issues, here’s a Pdf link for a technical article from the GIA in Bangkok on the Greenland Ruby.

Ruby and Pink Sapphire from Aappaluttoq, Greenland; Status of On-Going Research, GIA Lab, Bankok

Greenland Ruby in a locket by Reflective Images

Greenland Ruby in a ring by Reflective Images

Tags: Announcements, Greenland Rubies, Rad Transparency, Rubies, Trends by Marc Choyt
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In this, the third of the three posts, Greg describes the astonishing experience of discovering ruby in Greenland.

~ Marc Choyt, publisher

Part of the allure of Greenland’s majestic mountain scenery is its vast richness and beauty. I cannot begin to describe the sense of sheer exhilaration I felt climbing Ruby mountain above the Greenlandic sea.

Ruby Mountain stretches up to breathtaking snow capped heights and plunges down into the depths of crystal clear waters that are fueled by 50,000-year old glaciers. The fjord sculpts the island. Sea trout, seal and whale swim in playgrounds of refracting azure blue.
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Tags: Editorial, Ethical Jewelry, Fair Trade Gems, Greenland Rubies, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Greg Valerio
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In this post, the second of four, Greg Valerio, fair trade activist and staff writer, discusses the paradigm shift in Greenland after their independence, and the actual negotiations with the Greenlandic Bureau of Mining and Petroleum.

The Greenlandic Bureau of Mining and Petroleum was so ignorant of small scale Inuit ruby mining that they assumed that cyanide was involved. In fact, the mining of rubies requires no chemicals whatsoever.

~ Marc Choyt, Publisher
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Tags: Editorial, Ethical Jewelry, Fair Trade Gems, Greenland Rubies, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Greg Valerio
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When Greenland got home rule on June 21st, Greg Valerio, fair trade jewellery activist and staff writer for Fairjewelry.org, was there to negotiate with the new Home Rule Government in support of the 16 August Union.

In Part 1 of this post, The Journey, Greg provides context for the visit.

In Part II, Day of Eternal Light, Greg discusses the negotiations with the Greenlandic government. Post Home Rule.

In Part III, The King of Ruby Mountain, Greg writes of the astonishing experience of walking among a treasure house of beautiful gems in the pristine landscape.

~Marc Choyt, Publisher, Fairjewelry.org

June 19, 2009

(Click to enlarge)

I am on a trip to visit The 16th August Union, Greenland’s first official small-scale miners association. The aim as a fair trade jeweller is to work with the Union in their dealing with the Danish run Bureau for Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) who have criminalized Union members for owning ruby and have stopped them selling their rocks to jewellers like me who want a stone from the hand of local people, not the big impersonal mining companies.
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Tags: Editorial, Ethics, Fair Trade Gems, Greenland Rubies, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Greg Valerio
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By Greg Valerio, Staff Writer, fairjewelry.org

“I sit on a mans back, choking him and making him carry me and I assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his suffering by all means, except by getting off his back”.
~ Leo Tolstoy

Ian Smillie’s resignation from the Kimberley Process (KP) at the end of May 2009 came as a shock to me as it did to most people on the outside of the process. I have met Ian on a number of occasions and had been impressed by his commitment to the jewellery industry, as well as his passion for reform.

His involvement in Partnership Africa Canada and the Kimberley Process has helped to revolutionize the jewellery industry as well as the political and corporate culture that surrounds our work.

Ian started as a teacher in Sierra Leone in the sixties and demonstrated concern for the plight of the people throughout his career, including the environmental and labour conditions of the small miners.
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Tags: Best Practices, CSR, Diamonds, Editorial, Environment, Ethical Jewelry, Ethics, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Jewelry, Gold, Green Issues, Greenland Rubies, Manufacturing, Mining, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Social Initiatives, Spin, Transparency, Trends by Greg Valerio
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The Battle of Greenland Ruby
By: Ms. Tida Ravn Nuuk, Greenland

This article by Tida Ravn published in 2008 kicked off a media storm in Greenland. It gives a first hand account of the origins of the 16th August Union, the Inuit Group struggling to retain their rights to collect, polish and sell the rubies that are on their ancestral land.
~ Marc Choyt, Publisher, fairjewelry.org.
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Tags: Ethical Jewelry, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Gems, Greenland Rubies, Mining, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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A group of Inuit small scale miners have launched their own website which will serve as a platform in their struggle to maintain control of their ruby resources which have been denied by their colonialist government.

Visit their website at: www.freegreenlandruby.com

Tags: Announcements, Ethical Jewelry, Ethics, Fair Trade, Greenland Rubies, Mining, Rad Transparency, Responsible Mining, Rubies, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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