Gold

Gold remains a highly prized and impactful resource within the global economy. From the insatiable demand for gold in the electronics that permeate our day-to-day lives to the environmental desolation driven by gold mining in the Amazon, the gold trade continues to touch the lives and livelihoods of people across the world. Bloomfield and Maconachie tell the intriguing story of the yellow metal, tracing the seismic shifts in the industry over the past few decades. They show how huge purchases of gold reserves by BRICS countries mark the shifting balance of power away from the West, and how rising affluence in India and China has led to a surging demand for gold jewellery, calling into question current approaches to make supply chains more responsible. Explaining why gold is so difficult to regulate and why it is only becoming more so, the authors suggest ways we could, collectively, make practices work better for the countless workers and communities who suffer at the producer end of the supply chain. Linking local to global, producer to consumer, and gold’s extraction from the Earth to the financial centres that fuel it, this book offers a probing analysis that reveals who wins and who loses and what this means for the future of gold.

Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction Gold’s continuing relevance Gold’s continuing allure Outline of the book Notes 2 Gold and the Distortions of Development Gold rushes and nation-building: the rise and fall of empires Colonial expansion: God, glory and gold! Gold and power: states and capital markets The recent scramble for gold Feeding the dragon: Chinese engagement in the gold mining sector Gold and the resource curse Revenue sharing at the local level Ecological impacts The gold–conflict nexus Conclusion Notes 3 An Intractable Industry Complexity in the supply and the demand for gold Gold and regulatory failure:the case of Bre-X Minerals Conclusion Notes 4 Gold Governance and Gaps States and international organisations Civil society and the private sector Transnational activism: the case of the No Dirty Gold campaign Opportunities and challenges:a lesson in business power? The market responds: enter certification and Fairtrade Conflict-free gold supply chains and the traceability agenda Disclosure regulation: the case of Dodd-Frank and the DRC Blockchain and ‘track and trace’ technology Conclusion: can ‘ethical gold’ make a difference? Notes 5 Rising Powers in Supply and Demand Financialisation and financial markets for gold Emerging power in supply and demand BRICS and gold The Chinese gold market The Indian gold market Shifting implications for responsible gold? Conclusion Notes 6 Conclusion: Refocusing for the Future of Gold Considering the future of gold ASGM as a driver of (sustainable) development Taking stock and moving forward Notes Selected Readings Index