The goal of this study was to analyze gold supply chains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the Capacity Building for a Responsible Minerals Trade (CBRMT) project to determine how to promote responsible conflict-free sourcing of gold, and apply due diligence consistent with international best practices. The work included the following elements:
- A review of responsibly mined gold around the world to capture best practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for alignment based on similar international systems;
- Meetings with existing artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold pilot projects and large-scale industrial gold operators in the DRC to identify best practices and challenges in establishing and scaling up legal export channels and supply chains for ASM gold from the region; and
- Assessments of the efficacy, cost, transparency, credibility, and sustainability of existing efforts to promote responsible conflict-free sourcing of artisanal gold from the DRC.