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Compliance / reasons for refusing cooperation
The Metal Miners also produces various precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium and other rare metals. We are able to reliably and permanently deliver larger quantities of rare raw materials.
A permanent delivery of our materials is guaranteed and has been reliable and punctual for many years. The Metals is subject to international restrictions on deliveries of strategic metals and works according to the Compliance Management System, or CMS for short. This is the entirety of the measures, structures and processes set up in an organization to ensure compliance with the rules, which can include legally binding and ethical rules.
Without a due diligence check, no new customer or bidder will be accepted and without a successful due diligence check, the purchase of strategic material from us will be excluded. The same applies to the entire compliance process, which is a prerequisite for the delivery of materials.
The mining of rare precious metals in opencast mining
Impact of artisanal mining in the Amazon © Adriano Gambarini / WWF Brazil
A large part of the world’s gold and many rare earths (about 20 to 25 percent) comes from artisanal mining (ASM). These small mines employ about 90 percent of the miners* worldwide. Especially in remote areas, ASM contributes significantly to the income of the local population: an estimated 20 to 30 million people work in the artisanal gold mining sector worldwide. Working conditions are often exploitative and unhealthy. But the downsides of gold mining in small mines are massive: ASM is primarily responsible for mercury pollution of water, soil and air worldwide. The toxic metal is used to mine gold: sludge and rocks are sucked out of the riverbed with a large pump and spread over rough carpets. The carpets are replaced after two to four hours. They catch the heavy rocks and the gold. The carpets are then washed out – the first grains of gold can be seen. The remains are taken to a concrete mixing plant. There mercury is added to bind the gold. This mixture is then melted with a Bunsen burner, the gold dissolves out. During this process, mercury enters the air through vapors, liquid mercury enters soils, sediments, rivers and lakes.
In addition, it can be deposited in the human body by eating contaminated fish or by inhaling the vapor. It causes muscle damage, chronic headaches, mood swings, learning disabilities, and sensory impairments. Mercury can also cause birth defects, respiratory failure, kidney damage, coma, and even death.