Ethical Crystal Sourcing
Crystal Mining Industry
Ethical sourcing of mineral crystals is very important to us, however, there is no single official governing body with legally binding authority to regulate and certify ethical mining worldwide.
The Fairtrade Foundation does not oversee and govern the entire mining sector. Its scope in mining is narrow and specialized, focusing exclusively on small-scale mining, rather than large-scale industrial mining.
Mineral track and tracing can be hard since crystals often change hands along the supply chain: The crystals tend to originate from a mine in one country, then get transported to another location or country to be cut and carved, then to a wholesaler who exports them to another wholesaler in another country, to then be distributed to crystal shops.
Unless you own your own mine and extract them yourself, it is sadly impossible to trace and prove safe working conditions in developing countries and ethical mining across global supply chains.
The Misconception
A common misconception of the crystal industry is that miners and crystal lovers in general are causing human suffering and harming the earth by mining and robbing it of its sparkling darlings.
The fact of the matter is that mining for mineral crystals alone is not financially viable since mineral crystal sales do not produce enough profit for miners to cover their costs incurred from the extraction process. Crystals are therefore usually collected as an unexpected by-product of profitable underground and strip mining of ore materials such as gold, copper, Aluminium, and mica. These ore materials are widely used in electronics, jewellery, cosmetics and automotive industries which are much more profitable for miners since they are required for and used in our every-day lives.
The Challenges
There are different scopes of practice between each mine and ethical mining may have different meanings to different people depending on various aspects of it, the operating standards of each country and the cultural lens it is viewed through.
Each crystals journey across the unregulated supply chain will vastly vary before it hits the general market shelf, so it is very difficult for businesses to blanket claim and actually verify that all crystals they are selling are ethically sourced.
These are some of the many complex challenges and aspects to consider across the broad spectrum of the industry while debating ethical mining standards:
• Traceability of the supply chain. – The path from mine to market is often fragmented, passing from miners to brokers, exporters, processors, polishers to wholesalers, making tracing the origins of each crystal difficult. Even when the entire process is kept within one country, it may be less risky, but it is not fall proof.
• Mining small-scale vs. Large-scale. – While small scale family businesses can support local livelihoods, it is often lacking oversight and formal compliance to matters relating to health and safety. Large-scale mining can have a bigger environmental impact even if it is better regulated.
• Conflict minerals, country of origin, mine owners political and cultural views and what the proceeds of the mines are funding. – Some materials are extracted within conflict affected regions under conditions of forced labour and human rights abuses. Mine owners trade their extractions to finance violence and armed groups which may be deemed as terrorist organisations for some but not to others depending on each traders views and beliefs.
Can we prove that a wholesaler has not overlooked this? Or does not intentionally or indirectly support a terrorist organisation? Can we prove that each trader in the buying chain was of the same opinion and had the same values as the final business owner who is selling to the public?
It is hard if you are not a geologist, to identify what is a conflict mineral. It is also worth keeping in mind that crystals are millions of years old and many ancient pieces are sold by antique dealers or someone offloading from their personal collection. The crystals may have been obtained long before terrorist organisations existed. We simply cannot reject all sales of a particular crystal which is notoriously linked to a terrorist organisation when we cannot guarantee its origin and source.
• Working conditions of each mine and the health and safety of each miner and risks or danger to life. - What is considered as reasonable working conditions with adequate safety will vary from country to country. What minimum standards are in place for each mine and country the crystal has originated from? Have personal protective equipment (PPE) been provided to protect from hazards? Have raspatory protective equipment been supplied to prevent the inhalation of hazardous dust particles exposing to serious respiratory illnesses?
• Working conditions of the processing stage within the supply chain. – Some crystals are transported to different countries to be cut, polished, dyed, heat treated, carved and mounted. China for example, is known to host great talent for producing beautiful crystal carvings. Can we trace each step of the supply chain and assure ethical working conditions at each processing stage? Can we be sure of the correct use of protective equipment? Without physical feet on the ground, it is impossible to guarantee that acceptable minimum standards are met at each step.
• Forced labour and exploitation of workers, children and the disabled. – Cultural standards of acceptable work ethics vary from country to country. What is considered as child exploitation to some, may be deemed as acceptable methods of mining and even beneficial in other countries. Some family owned mines are multigenerational businesses where children may be encouraged to help with messengering, light carrying and cleaning. In some countries however, children may be forced to work and may face dangerous working conditions. In an unregulated industry, there is a large grey area with no clear definition for what is deemed as child exploitation. Can we guarantee that light carrying within a family run business has not crossed over to forced work and exploitation? Do we have a clear guideline for ethical working conditions for children and proof of auditing and compliance from each mine (large or small) to assure the safety of workers in every country? Can we assure the working hours of each child and correct compensation for their labour? Can we guarantee that disabled adults or children have not been forced to work or exploited within each processing facility?
• Occupational safety assessments and operating machinery regulations. – There should never be a risk of danger to life within any job role, however operating different machinery within different roles carries different levels of safety risks. Can we guarantee that regular audits and adequate risk assessments have been carried out with the correct safety measures implemented for each mine and processing facility? Can we guarantee that all machinery is regularly checked, maintained and certified for safety? With a lack of universally acceptable standards this is impossible to verify along the supply chain.
• Environmental Impact and destruction from mining activities required to meet the demands of the cosmetics industry and our electronic needs causes habitat loss, deforestation and water pollution. Would it be fair or controversial to view the crystal by-products of ore mines as resourcefully traded excess matters which would otherwise be discarded and wasted? There is a huge market after all for these shiny commodities.
Some resellers boldly create their own badges for their websites, stating that the crystals they sell are ethically mined, the mines they buy from are tested for fair trade conditions and crystals are being extracted by mining professionals.
We believe that businesses claiming to ethically source crystals may have good intentions to sustain, at the very least, a minimum level of ethics around the world. However, due to the different standards of what is deemed ethical within each country, unless the seller mines all of their crystals themselves and processes the crystals themselves or buys directly from a trusted mine and oversees each processing step, it is impossible to make and uphold such a claim, even with regular physical visits to their suppliers.
Our Ethical Stance
Our aim as a business is to ensure that we only work with respected wholesalers who follow the same ethical standards as we do. We want our crystals and our business operations to be surrounded by clean energy which is free of unethical practices.
We do our due diligence and consciously source and import our crystals from a handful of trusted global suppliers. Our main suppliers sell at the Tucson Trade Show in Arizona annually and prove that they too, do their part to ask questions and buy according to their ethical standards. We build strong relationships with our wholesalers and our main supplier had shared with us a particular trusted mine (amongst many) which they themselves mainly buy from directly. We have digitally viewed them processing the crystals in-house themselves (often modifying our orders at short notice by request). They have shown us how we are supporting their community in Brazil, however, in a large and fast paced facility, it is impossible to trace the exact origin of each crystal.
We want to be transparent with our customers, therefore, despite all of our combined efforts, as a business, we refuse to make claims of full ethical sourcing simply because we cannot trace, prove or refute the business practices or mining methods of our suppliers’ own sources or any operations further up the supply chain. Instead, we consciously source our crystals by fully committing to our responsibility of sourcing trusted suppliers and asking the right questions about their supply chain, but it is impossible to fly to each supplier, carver and mine to verify the information.
We buy in good faith that our suppliers too, have consciously sourced, if not mined and processed the crystals themselves.
We believe this is the best way to combat the situation and ensure the best ethical and environmental outcome for us all.
