The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) is an independent, global-scale, pioneering initiative established in 2004 to enhance equity and wellbeing in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) communities through improved social, environmental and labour practices, good governance and the implementation of ecosystem restoration practices. ARM is committed to social justice and environmental responsibility as the values driving the transformation of ASM.

OUR MISSION

ARM's mission is to set standards for responsible ASM and to support and enable producers to deliver "fairmined" certified metals and minerals through economically just supply chains to the markets, in order to contribute towards the transformation of ASM into a socially and environmentally responsible activity, and to the improvement of· the quality of life of marginalized artisanal miners, their families and communities.

OUR VISION

ARM's vision is for ASM to become a formalised, organised and profitable activity that uses efficient technologies, and is socially and environmentally responsible, that increasingly develops within a framework of good governance, legality, participation and respect for diversity, it increases its contribution to the generation of decent work, local development, poverty reduction and social peace in our nations, driven by a growing consumer demand for sustainable minerals and ethical jewellery.

OUR HISTORY

ARM was launched by a network of independent organizations with the aim of promoting responsible standards and criteria for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).

It was set up in Quito, at the headquarters of Rainforest Rescue International (FURARE) by an international group of community-based mining organisations, environmentalists, business people and certification specialists from Colombia, Ecuador, the United States, the Philippines, Holland, Mongolia, Peru, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.

ARM drew inspiration from the promising results achieved by the Green Gold experimental initiative in Colombia, in which ecological restoration of mined areas is a key component of certification.

ARM seeks to replicate and extend this pioneering focus in response to growing consumer demand for responsibly produced metals, especially from fair trade and ethical markets around the world.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

ARM works with ASM organisations and other players in the supply chain; it follows a bottom-up approach in building on local traditional knowledge and seeking to respond to community initiatives aimed at poverty reduction and locally-based control of the community's own natural resources.  At the heart of this effort is the intent  to make a significant contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in ASM communities.