• The teeth of miner Crispin Lema from the Aurelsa mining company, which are framed in gold, are seen as he smiles, outside a tunnel near Relave, a mining village at the province of Parinacochas in Ayacucho. Tucked between two desert ridges in southern Peru, Relave looks like any of the thousands of ramshackle mining towns that blight the landscape in the world’s sixth-largest gold exporter. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    The teeth of miner Crispin Lema from the Aurelsa mining company, which are framed in gold, are seen as he smiles, outside a tunnel near Relave, a mining village at the province of Parinacochas in Ayacucho. Tucked between two desert ridges in southern Peru, Relave looks like any of the thousands of ramshackle mining towns that blight the landscape in the world’s sixth-largest gold exporter. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Women known as “pallaqueras” collect the remains after miners removed stones containing gold materials outside a tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Women known as “pallaqueras” collect the remains after miners removed stones containing gold materials outside a tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Miners from Aurelsa mining company strain stones containing gold materials at the company’s processing plant in Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Miners from Aurelsa mining company strain stones containing gold materials at the company’s processing plant in Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Miners from Aurelsa mining company prepare to place dynamite in a tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Miners from Aurelsa mining company prepare to place dynamite in a tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • A wildcat miner tries to break stones containing gold materials with a chisel in an informal tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    A wildcat miner tries to break stones containing gold materials with a chisel in an informal tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Miner Luis Hancco from Aurelsa mining company poses for a portrait during a break. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Miner Luis Hancco from Aurelsa mining company poses for a portrait during a break. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • A wildcat miner transports bags with stones containing gold materials outside an informal tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    A wildcat miner transports bags with stones containing gold materials outside an informal tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Shack houses are seen in a mining village at the province of Parinacochas in Ayacucho. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Shack houses are seen in a mining village at the province of Parinacochas in Ayacucho. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • A wildcat miner drills stones containing gold materials in an informal tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    A wildcat miner drills stones containing gold materials in an informal tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • A boy helps a wildcat miner grind “quimbalete” stones containing gold materials with a mix of mercury and water. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    A boy helps a wildcat miner grind “quimbalete” stones containing gold materials with a mix of mercury and water. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Miners from Aurelsa mining company take a break outside a tunnel. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Miners from Aurelsa mining company take a break outside a tunnel. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Miners from Aurelsa mining company play table soccer at the company’s encampment in Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Miners from Aurelsa mining company play table soccer at the company’s encampment in Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
  • Miners from Aurelsa mining company pull a cart for removing stones containing gold materials into a tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters
    Miners from Aurelsa mining company pull a cart for removing stones containing gold materials into a tunnel near Relave. Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters

Business

In pictures: Mining ethical gold in Peru

Liz Claus

April 26, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

The village of Relave in Peru is home to Aurelsa, one of the first small-scale mines in the world to produce gold certified and marketed as “ethical” as part of a scheme aimed at reducing the harmful impact of illegal mining in mineral-rich developing countries.

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