The story of blood diamonds was a lesson to the world. The greed of mining diamonds to make money at the cost of human welfare was unpalatable to a large part of the human population. The horror stories that came from the mines made everyone rethink their desire to buy these cheap diamonds. This made jewelers realize that no matter how appealing the jewelry, it’s sad origins would take a toll on the sales.

Now people are even more concerned about the impact of mining of precious metals like gold on the environment. Given the trend, jewelers also try and source their raw material from verified suppliers who have strict standards to minimize the negative impact of mining metals for jewelry making. There are new scientific methods that help reduce the impact such human activity has. More mines are beginning to use these methods.

These artisanal mines don’t produce much gold annually, but they seek to preserve the environment in terms of methods of extraction used. They ensure humane working conditions for their miners and they are now producing what’s called “fairmined” gold. This ecologically friendly label makes them more in demand for big name gold smiths and jewellers.