Standards, certification and regulation
The frameworks that decide whether artisanal minerals reach legal markets. Filter by type or focus, search by name, and note the source rating on each entry.
Three kinds of instrument shape responsible ASM: certification schemes that miners can join, frameworks that set the due-diligence rules, and regulation that governments impose. The chips below filter by type; the dropdown narrows by mineral focus.
The chip on each card is a corroboration rating: Strong (multiple independent sources), Corroborated, Single source, or Contested. Links open the scheme’s own site. Last reviewed July 2026.
17 entries
OECD Due Diligence Guidance
The global benchmark for responsible mineral sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas; nearly every other scheme aligns to it.
World Bank Renewed Framework for ASM
The 2024 flagship reframing ASM around legitimacy and professionalisation; the foundation of the "renewal" agenda.
Minamata Convention on Mercury
The mercury treaty; requires National Action Plans to cut and where feasible eliminate mercury in artisanal gold mining.
LBMA Responsible Gold + ASM Toolkit
Refiner due-diligence rules plus a toolkit aimed at getting more artisanal gold into the legitimate market.
Kimberley Process
Rough-diamond origin certification born from artisanal "conflict diamonds"; critics say its narrow definition ignores wider harms.
RMAP (Responsible Minerals Assurance Process)
RMI’s smelter/refiner audit programme for tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold; the EU now accepts it for Conflict Minerals Regulation compliance.
CRAFT Code 2.1
A progressive market-entry standard letting artisanal producers enter responsible supply chains step by step, with an upstream-assurance scheme.
Fairmined (ARM)
Certification and premium for responsible ASM gold, silver and platinum; small but pioneering certified footprint in Latin America.
Fairtrade Gold
Fairtrade standard and premium for ASM gold organisations, audited by FLOCERT; realised volumes remain marginal.
Swiss Better Gold
A SECO public-private scheme channelling responsibly produced ASM gold from Peru, Colombia and Bolivia to Switzerland.
Maendeleo Diamond Standards
The Diamond Development Initiative’s eight-principle standard for artisanal diamond mining, piloted in Sierra Leone.
iTSCI
Tagging and chain-of-custody for 3T minerals in the Great Lakes; watchdogs allege mis-tagging of conflict minerals and RMI suspended its recognition.
DRC cobalt export quota (ARECOMS)
After a 2025 export ban, the DRC capped cobalt exports with a hard quota and routes artisanal cobalt through the state monopoly EGC.
EU Critical Raw Materials Act
Sets 2030 EU supply benchmarks for critical minerals and ties strategic projects to OECD due-diligence, with DRC cobalt a flagged exposure.
EU Batteries Regulation (due diligence)
Battery supply-chain due-diligence on cobalt, lithium, nickel and graphite, explicitly targeting ASM-linked risks; start postponed two years.
EU Conflict Minerals Regulation
Mandatory 3TG supply-chain due diligence for EU importers from conflict-affected areas.
US Dodd-Frank Section 1502
The original conflict-minerals disclosure rule for DRC-region 3TG; on the books but its audit element has been dormant since 2017.