Business Pilot for Responsible Mauritanian ASM Gold

This project aimed to demonstrate the business case for responsible artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Mauritania, where the sector is nascent, informal, reliant on mercury use, and vulnerable to intrusion from insurgent groups operating in the wider Sahel region. With partners Magma Group and Aurum Monaco, Pact supported ASGM miners and forgerons (blacksmiths) to adopt improved methods for gold processing and jewelry-making, with reduced environmental and health impacts. By establishing an exporting company under Magma, the partners aimed to establish a transparent and ‘clean’ supply chain from Mauritania’s gold mines to Aurum’s refinery in Monaco. Government and regional stakeholders were strengthened on due diligence and the novel EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, and engaged to ensure project interventions could be scaled.