The World Economic Forum often discusses how the mining industry can support the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Guiding Principles, however, indicate that a company cannot offset human rights harm by doing good elsewhere. Companies cannot “pick and choose” which human rights to respect. Human rights don’t work like a carbon offset program, where you
The modern-day slavery act recently introduced calls business and governments to action in order to prevent forced labor through the global supply chain, including in sectors like mining. Extractive companies are being asked to know and show that they understand how their activities affect human rights, not just at the point of extraction, but also
The ASM sector produces about 80% of the world’s color gemstones, up to a quarter of all gold in the world, about a quarter of all cobalt and tin, and about 15% of all diamonds. In other words, they’re not insignificant producers, they’re the world’s hidden suppliers. In a previous article we detailed this market
The UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights are now embedded in the corporate policy frameworks of a number of extractive companies and industry organizations. ARM, Alliance for Responsible Mining (FairMined Certification) as well as other groups such as the International Council on Mining and Metals encourage a proactive approach to business and human rights
The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, along with other core instruments, outlines the human rights responsibilities of states towards individuals and collectivities. States have the obligation to respect and implement all of the provisions of the Declaration and related instruments. The responsibilities and obligations of states to protect, respect, and fulfill human rights have
Natural resources foster life. Deterioration and scarcity of these resources, lead to the progressive death of plant, animal or human species. The causes of this deterioration are known. It is primarily due to the adverse impacts dating from the dawn of the industrial age to the present day. This economic model was built
What is the Barksanem™ License… exactly? Barksanem™ (BSM™) is a Texas-based, American company internationally licensing operational solutions, mineral resource management, natural resource remediation, and innovative agricultural programs for micro-collectivities. Licensing refers to the leasing of intangible assets or an intellectual property. Intellectual property or “IP” includes intangible creations of the human intellect, such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks as
From time to time we are asked, why did we choose Burkina Faso to develop our mining operations and create our training and research hubs for the Texas-based company Barksanem™, Inc? Actually, there are many reasons. History first of all, since one of the two founders is Burkinabe and the second grew up in this
Many have asked, why does Barksanem™ (BSM™) only focus on the ASM space (Artisanal and small-scale mining)? We have already started to answer this question here: Barksanem™ and ASM Part 1… In that article I spoke about the economic reasons that make our choice incontestably evident. Numbers don’t lie as they say…. To take matters
Many have asked, why does Barksanem™ (BSM™) only focus on the ASM space (Artisanal and small-scale mining)? Facts and figures First, some background about artisanal and small-scale mining. This sector has seen substantial growth in last several years due, in part, to the rising value of mineral prices and the contemporaneous concomitant heightened complexity
