Setting a new gold standard

Artisanal and small-scale mining operations (ASMs) are often paid as little as 70 per cent of the fixed gold price.
Workers in ASMs, meanwhile, can earn as little as 70p a day for back-breaking toil, as well as facing severe health risks through contact with toxic chemicals used to process gold, including nitric acid,mercury and cyanide. The International Labour Organisation said that there are more than six times the number of accidents in the ASM sector compared with large-scale mining.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/watches/28616/setting-a-new-gold-standard.html