OCIM’s commits to artisanal miners in Peru

To help improve mining practices and establish more responsible, traceable and sustainable supply chains, OCIM is involved in a program in Peru in partnership with the Swiss Better Gold Association. The aim is to improve the health and safety conditions of small-scale miners working at the Minera Orex mine in the Arequipa region, in the South of the country. The program currently covers 300 miners in 25 production units, but may eventually be extended to all 75 production units.
This operation is the second stage of a three-stage continuous improvement process (Swiss Better Gold Continuous Improvement Escalator). It consists of a number of different action levers:

• training and technical assistance to improve the miner’s knowledge of preparation of mining activities, exploitation and extraction methods;
• supply of first aid and rescue kits;
• assistance in forming and training rescue brigades;
• installation and operation of two rescue chambers in strategic points in the region;
• provision and implementation of appropriate signalling on the mine sites;
• provision of garbage bins for different types of waste.

As a member of the Swiss Better Gold Association since 2023, OCIM is participating for the first time in one of the association’s major programs. Made up of industry stakeholders (jewellers, refiners, investors, etc.), this not-for-profit organisation was set up in 2013 with the aim of improving the living conditions of artisanal and small-scale miners (ASGMs), facilitating their access to the Swiss market and enabling the country’s manufacturers to benefit from responsible and sustainable sources of supply. The means to achieve this take the form of concrete operations on the ground, actions to mobilize the stakeholders and the development of methods to improve virtuous standards, particularly in terms of traceability.