Small-scale gold miners in East Africa are being trained by Fairtrade Foundation, a UK-based charity organisation, to embrace safe working practices and eradicate child labour at mining sites.

Fairtrade said an initiative to minimise life threatening incidents associated with dangerous mining sites has brought artisanal and small-scale mining organisations (ASMSOs) from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania on board.

Fairtrade standards include protecting the environment by minimising use of mercury, promoting personal safety equipment, eliminating child labour and promoting better working conditions and equal treatment of men and women.

Miners are required to extract gold from crushed ore using mercury in concrete pits to ensure toxins do not reach rivers and waterways.

Mercury attracts all the gold particles in the ore. When mercury is consumed by a human being, it accumulates in the kidney, liver, skin and lungs, causing permanent disability with a range of other conditions.

The Micodepro Development Group in Migori and the Lolgorian ASMSO Group in Transmara in western Kenya are among the first associations to be trained under the  African Gold Programme.

Umoja Lwamgasa Saccos, Nsangano Gold Mine Project and Mawemeru Gold Project in Tanzania along with Uganda’s Busia United Small Scale Mining Association, Syanyonja Artisan Miners Alliance, Tiira Small Scale Mining Association and Buteba Small Scale Mining Association are beneficiaries of the training programme.

Fairtrade said it received a $1.2 million grant from Comic Relief to support the world’s first responsible sourcing of gold from the nine ASMSOs. The grant will run till 2019.

“The situation faced by small-scale miners has no place in supply chain. We are working to create a business model and renewed support,” said Fairtrade’s chief executive Michael Gidney.

Upon being certified, the ASMSOs will get $2,000 premium per kilogramme of  gold and a minimum of 95 per cent of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) price of precious metal sold.

London-based Fairtrade said money received by any ASMSO as a premium for having fair working conditions has to be invested in improving the welfare of the local community around the mining site.

“Once certification is achieved by the initial nine ASMSOs in East Africa, the gold will be imported into Britain by Cred Jewellery in readiness for sale by the Arctic Circle, Cred Jewellery and Mastercut brands,” it said.

The Fairtrade certification process can be traced to individual miners who get a fair price for gold and money to improve their living conditions. Certification will be done after training and a rigorous auditing process.

“From 2016, the new grant will support miners’ ability to invest in their own development, become more productive and deliver sales to global markets over four years,” said Fairtrade’s media manager, Martine Parry.

She said Nsangano and Syanyonja Artisan Miners Alliance with Micodepro will  become model ASMSO sites as they exhibited improved mining practices, strong leadership and good practice in phase one of the project.