Tools, Reporting & Case Studies

Below you find an overview of various tools, research reports and case studies compiled by the TIF Team as part of our work on various commodity supply chains. We believe that by sharing these resources, we can controbute to mitigating the duplication of efforts and focus attention on the further development and action on the ground, rather than maintaining parallel processes.

Gold

Overcoming Practical Barriers for Integrating Responsible Artisanal and Small-Scale Mined Gold into International Supply Chains

When artisanal and small-scale miners produce gold observing relevant environmental, social and governance standards, practical barriers to accessing international markets typically still remain. This report aims to inform the funders, leaders, and managers of existing and planned ASGM market initiatives, to highlight the impediments such initiatives face in establishing a flow of formal responsible ASM gold into international markets.

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ESG Performance & Risk Management Handbook for Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining

As part of our Lake Victoria Gold Programme, we developed a handbook guiding the continuous improvement of ASMO’s along what we call the Impact Escalator.

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Impact Monitoring & Guidance

Our Impact Monitoring & Guidance structures our efforts to quantify the positive impact of our interventions. Please note, we plan to update this tool in early 2021.

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Reports & Case Studies

Please find below a selection of research reports written by members of the TIF staff.

The Impact Facility EA – Equipment Leasing

Under The Lake Victoria Gold Programme, The Impact Facility has established an equipment lease-to-ownership business solution for artisanal mineral gold producers of East Africa. Tailored towards the needs of the ASM community, we believe that the professionalisation of the sector should go hand-in-hand with the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining. This document outlines the rationale behind our lease offering and its potential to transform the gold value chain, starting with the communities that supply the commodity.

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Mercury Management in Practice: Case Studies with Miners in East Africa
Over the years our team has dedicated a lot of time and effort trying to sensitize around the risk of and raise the capacity of miners to responsibly use mercury. This booklet our attempts to contribute to managing, mitigating and potentially eliminating the use of mercury in this sector.
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Unlocking Finance for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining
Currently, ASGM is largely financed by the informal economy with a finance-first mandate, which priorities commercial financial returns and has little or no regard for environmental, social or governance (ESG) considerations, including mercury reduction or elimination. To date, formal finance reaching the ASGM sector has generally been restricted to donor and grant finance, with minimal evidence of finance from commercial lenders, including from impact investors. This paper seeks to assist ASGM programs in accessing finance by better understanding the perspective of investors and the implications of ASGM’s status as a frontier investment sector, and has been written by the Impact Facility team, on behalf of the UN-financed GEF Gold project, set up to eradicate mercury and professionalize ASGM.
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Developing a Model for a Sustainable & Scalable Route to Market for Ethically Produced Gold of ASM
This research report aims at establishing a deeper understanding of the Ugandan ASGM value chain, based on case studies focussed on TIF’s project ASMOs in the Busia District of Uganda. It attempts to answer the question of how, where and by whom ASM gold is typically traded and explores how specifically the value chain would need to be (re-)structured and processes at mine level improved to supply the international market with responsible gold.
At the focus of this report stand the case studies zooming in on four mining associations in Eastern-Uganda, visited and interviewed in March 2018.
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The Impact Facility Technical Guide
In this guide, we outline key mining equipment profiles, with the intention of helping mining investors and money lending institutions to understand what artisanal miners are seeking financial resources for, the machine profitability and their actual worth in the mining sector.
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Cobalt

Digging for Change

TIF started working on issues around ASM cobalt in 2018. Our team travelled to the DRC with a multi-disiplinary team of experts to take stock of the issues around two mmine sites specifically: Kasulu and Kamilombe. This effort evolved into what ias today the Fair Cobalt Alliance. The report offers reflections on challanges around the mines as well as in regards to child labour in the local communities.

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