Fairtrade could make the future brighter for African gold miners

Child labour is common, safety equipment is rare and the use of hazardous materials such as cyanide and mercury while recovering the gold seems to be ubiquitous causing terrible health conditions. Dust inhalation and noise pollution are a way of life. The mines are fragile with precarious timber supports, where such supports even exist. Ore that's recovered is handed over for little financial reward and weighed casually in the hand of a local buyer or more 'officially' on tampered scales.
Fairtrade standards will mean improving the hazardous conditions, banning the open air mercury burning and cyanide pollution, eliminating child labour and democratically organising the mining groups. These are sweeping reforms but vital if this dehumanising process is to be transformed.
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/fairtrade-partner-zone/faritrade-future-african-gold-miners