How do you know if crystals are ethically sourced?
Are Crystals ethically sourced?
The key to “Ethical Mining and Fair Trade” is to build a transparent supply chain from the mine to the final product and have a third-party institution supervising and certifying the businesses that adhere to such a transparent supply chain.
The current reality is:
There is no independent certification scheme available globally.
No third-party institution anywhere around the world would build or offer an independent certification scheme.
There are lots of certification scams on the internet (meaning people who certify themselves, creating their own certification logos being awarded to themselves). Examples for that are the numeric stamps on silver jewelry (950, 925, etc..) when jewelers themselves certify the quality of their silver, or the Fair-Trade Gems® trademark promoted by Colombia Gem House to certify their own mining operation without any third-party oversight.
Stone mining is mostly small-scale mining in remote areas in developing countries. The individual miners keep the locations of their mines secret because they have reason to fear that their own clients or mining competitors will drive up to their mine and steal the rock when they are not present. Pinpointing mine locations as a means of transparency is often impossible.
How to Identify Ethically Sourced Crystal Shops
At Gemrock, we are trying to be as transparent as possible about the ethics and practices in our production chain. Transparency means being clear about what’s possible and what’s not, and how we deal with the challenges. Improving our supply chain and delivering proof for it is an ongoing effort.
Following read the guidelines we adhere to (and any truly ethical crystal shop should do so too):
No crystals from conflict areas
No gold, silver, gemstone, rough rock, or crystal is acquired from conflict areas.
No crystals should support drug production and terrorism
No gold, silver, gemstone, rough rock, or crystal is acquired from areas dominated by drug lords or terrorist organizations.
No child labor in mining
No gold, silver, gemstone, rough rock, or crystal is acquired from mining operations that ignore, allow, or tolerate child labor. Luckily, in Peru, we have very strong laws against child labor. As long as we buy from legal sources, we can be sure that no child labor is involved.
No illegal mining
We do the mining for several of our stones ourselves, having all required permits, paying our miners all required benefits with real labor contracts, and doing everything possible to reduce environmental impact. We do not acquire gold, silver, gemstones, rough rock, or crystals from illegal mining operations. One way to make sure is to always buy via bank payments. This simple procedure allows to exclude any illegal operation. Illegal mining would never accept anything that leaves a paper trail. Illegal mining is cash-based.
No Shadow business mining
Shadow business mining is legal mining (meaning the miners do have mining permissions and operate on mining concessions). They still may be shadow businesses if they do not comply with mining safety regulations, conceal the quantity of mined stones, or reduce tax payments by asking for cash payments. We do not engage in such practices. An easy way to make sure no shadow business is involved is to always pay via bank transaction. Shadow business operations would never accept anything that leaves a paper trail. Shadow Business is cash-based.
No Environmental Destruction
We are not buying raw materials that have been mined in protected areas or biodiverse and sensitive natural habitats. We are only buying gold and silver from legal mining companies that are obliged to comply with the government’s environmental standards. Stone mining in Peru is located in the coastal desert, an area nearly without vegetation, fauna, and water bodies. Stone mining does not require the use of chemicals. We buy our silver and gold only from registered and certified refineries in Peru. This way we avoid sourcing illegal gold, responsible for rainforest destruction in Peru.
Environmental impact reduction and compensation
In our lapidary workshop, we save water and energy and recycle materials. We compensate for the remaining environmental impacts by implementing a forest restoration project that neutralizes our carbon footprint, being globally the only company offering you carbon-neutral crystals and jewelry.
No shadow business in lapidary work
Our Gemrock group company Alvar Peru SAC produces all our top-quality products in-house. We hire our workers with real contracts, register them with the labor ministry, and pay all labor benefits like paid vacations, paid sick leave, retirement funds, and health insurance. Additionally, we pay salaries that are much higher than the industry standard, we pay annual bonuses and we share 5 % of our annual profits with our employees. Finally, we are creating a non-discriminative, secure, and pleasing work environment.
No toxic jewelry
By producing all chains, jewelry pieces, and charms made from silver, gold-plated silver, and gold with our partner silversmithing company Herdel SAC, part of the Gemrock Group, we make sure that no toxic substances are contaminating our products and that your health is protected.
Full Transparency
The goal of Alvar Peru SAC is to produce fully ethical and environmentally friendly crystals, crystal products, and jewelry. Transparency is a key element of our work, and we are taking transparency to a level not seen before in the global crystal industry. We provide the most detailed paper trail as proof to our clients. We are happy to receive visits from our clients at any time and to show them around.