Jewelers speak out against Pebble Project

Five of the nation's leading jewelry retailers - Tiffany & Co., Ben Bridge Jeweler, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, and Leber Jeweler, Inc. - pledged their support Feb. 12 to efforts to permanently protect the Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale metal mining, including the massive proposed Pebble gold mine.

The retailers, who reported $2.2 billion in sales in 2006, spoke out just before Valentine's Day, one of the biggest jewelry shopping seasons of the year, to highlight their opposition to the mining project.

They said they took the step at the invitation of Alaskans "who seek to protect wild salmon, clean water, and traditional Alaskan ways of life from the damaging effects of industrial metal mines."

"I am pleased to stand with others in the jewelry industry today in announcing our support for protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining," Jon Bridge, co-CEO and general counsel of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler, said Feb. 12. "As retail jewelers, we want to be able to tell our customers that the precious metals we use are mined responsibly - that the materials used in the jewelry they purchase have been mined in environmentally friendly ways, respectful of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery and the communities that depend on it."

Jewelers support Alaskans

Bobby Andrew, a spokesman for Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of the Land), an association of eight Bristol Bay Native Corporations representing Alaska Natives who live in Dillingham, Aleknagik, Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Ekwok and Clarks Point, thanked the retailers for taking their stand.

Last year, Nunamta Aulukestai, Renewable Resources Coalition and Earthworks joined forces to publicly invite jewelry retailers to express support for protection of Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. The invitation ran as a full-page ad in National Jeweler magazine, the group said.

Renewable Resources Coalition is the anti-Pebble group organized and financed by Alaska investment banker Bob Gillam who has vehemently opposed the Pebble Project since its inception. The coalition also is responsible for at least one of two anti-mining initiatives currently headed to the ballot this fall.

"Some of the world's leading jewelers have recognized that the Bristol Bay watershed is a treasure worth protecting. We applaud their principled position and commitment to not source metals from areas of high conservation value," Payal Sampat, a spokesman for Earthworks, said Feb. 12.

The proposed Pebble mine also was highlighted in a report released Feb. 12 by the "No Dirty Gold" consumer campaign led by Earthworks and Oxfam America. Earthworks and Oxfam America are international conservation and anti-poverty groups.

The report, "Golden Rules: Making the Case for Responsible Mining," documents the toll irresponsible mining has taken on people, water, and wildlife at a time when soaring metals prices are driving new mining development globally, the environmental groups said.

Broader campaign on horizon

The report also describes human rights violations and environmental concerns at metals mines in the United States and around the world, they added.

The retailers who spoke out against development of the Pebble Project are among a group of 28 jewelry retailers accounting for 23 percent of U.S. jewelry sales, that have endorsed the No Dirty Gold campaign's "Golden Rules" - human rights and environmental criteria for mining, according to Earthworks and Oxfam America.

The jewelers have not discussed the mine proposal with Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Anglo American, the two mining companies seeking to develop the proposed Pebble Project, according to project spokesman Sean Magee.

Magee said the Pebble deposit is situated on lands that the State of Alaska selected for its mineral potential, an important part of the rural Alaska economy.

The campaign to clean up gold mines echoes recent opposition to "blood diamonds," and other precious gems sold to finance conflicts in developing nations.

In the past few years, jewelers, working with nonprofit groups and the mining industry, set up a system to ensure diamonds are "conflict-free." Now the "ethical jewelry" movement appears to be preparing to expand with a certification program for gold and silver.

Currently, retailers cannot tell where gold has been mined. But in the coming year, jewelers will take the first steps to establish a chain of custody from mine to store, according to Earthworks.

Worldwide shortages and skyrocketing prices for gold and copper are fueling the push for Pebble Mine, which holds an estimated $300 billion in gold, copper and molybdenum.

If the mine, which lies on the edge of two national parks, gains the necessary permits from Alaska, it would involve excavating as much as 12 billion tons of earth, which, after extracting the ore, would fill 10 square miles of impoundments. Two dams, higher than China's Three Gorges Dam, would be built to hold the waste, opponents say.

For a copy of the report, visit http://www.nodirtygold.org.