The Bobosso Kogbera artisanal gold mine site in northeastern Côte d’Ivoire is a hub of activity. Working together, more than 50 miners unearth roughly 150 grams of gold monthly. The miners wear bright yellow vests with the word COOPEDA emblazoned on the back, the name of the artisanal gold mining cooperative that manages the site. In 2020, COOPEDA made headlines by producing the first traceable, responsible artisanal gold from Côte d’Ivoire for the international market through its work with IMPACT’s Just Gold project. 

The project helped COOPEDA to improve internal processes and increase transparency to meet the legal and regulatory requirements of the sector in Côte d’Ivoire. The cooperative then partnered with SICOM, an Ivorian exporter, to make traceable exports of gold to the international market. Integrating traders into responsible sourcing initiatives is crucial for the sustainability of artisanal gold supply chains. 

Now IMPACT has teamed up with Solidaridad to scale up the responsible artisanal gold supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and encourage traders to participate in responsible sourcing. Together, we’re testing how digital tools – one developed by IMPACT and one developed by Solidaridad – can support traders and the artisanal mines they source from to operate responsibly.   

One such tool, Solidaridad’s Extension Solution app, enables mine managers to track their progress on international standards (like the CRAFT Code), generate workplans to close any existing gaps, and upload evidence of their progress. This gives miners an efficient tool for managing operations at the mine, and sharing text, documents and photos with traders in real time, making the whole supply chain more transparent and efficient. 

This benefits traders, too. SICOM can use Extension Solution to view COOPEDA’s progress and supporting evidence to check due diligence on their supply chain. The traders can then provide support to the mines they source from to address any compliance gaps.  

The end result is improved due diligence, and thanks to integration with other digital tools, such as Bloom by IMPACT, the data can be shared with other relevant actors to support compliance and social impact reporting. This increased transparency is an exciting innovation, not just for miners and traders in producing countries, but also for gold buyers who often face challenges tracking practices in the first mile of their supply chains. Digital technology provides an efficient way to access this information.  

IMPACT and Solidaridad recognized the potential to expand the use of Extension Solution, which has been used with 28,000 small-scale farmers in 9 countries, to the small-scale mining sector, where no such tool existed. The methodology behind the tool — where practices are prioritized according to their criticality and urgency — is designed to support and encourage continuous improvement.  

Implementation of Extension Solution began with SICOM and COOPEDA in July at the Bobossa Kogbera mine site. Traders from SICOM are using the app to track and verify practices at the mine site. After an initial evaluation, Extension Solution generated an action plan, which the COOPEDA team is working to address. 

Since July, tangible progress has already been made by COOPEDA, resulting in the Bobosso Kogbera mine site having improved organization and better worker health:  

  • Establishing designated areas for different mining activities with signage 
  • Removal of trash and replacement of trash cans 
  • Restoration of public awareness signs around the mine site that share information on mine site policies including due diligence, prohibition of child labour, no gender-based violence 
  • Re-introduction to miners on mine site policies including gender, environment, health and safety, hygiene 

As SICOM continues to work with COOPEDA to progress through its action plan, the project looks to introduce the Extension Solutions app to a second nearby mine site. The project will also be exploring what motivates traders to sell into formal and legal supply chains, to ensure the implementation of due diligence.  

Photo Credit: Milequem-Diarassouba/IMPACT