La Gabriela began its history more than 2 decades ago with the initiative of the Posada family in Tarazá, Antioquia, to search for gold. There, without security protocols, they began mining work, which they shared with activities such as the cultivation of cocoa, rubber, and livestock for subsistence. The children grew up and Juliana, the daughter of the Posada family chose to be an agricultural engineer. Around 2007, it began with the establishment of cocoa and rubber crops. With the idea of benefiting the miners, the family created tilapia farming wells to offer to the workers and started looking for ways to improve their mining activity until they finally found the Fairmined certification. They decided to take this path full of changes, improvements, and commitment. Juliana remembers that it was a great challenge to convince the entire team to change the way of doing things, for better mining practices. “It is unlearning what you have been doing for years, and learning to do it well.” La Gabriela is a proud mining organization. They have generated employment in the area and the miners have job stability. In addition, they are convinced that responsible mining is the way to guarantee benefits for the community.
Location: Tarazá, Antioquia, Colombia See the map here. Number of workers: 12 men, 2 women Type of extraction: underground mining Fairmined certification date: September 2021 Learn about La Gabriela’s audit results 2021 in relation to environmental protection, working conditions, development plan, and commercial relations.
La Gabriela
“Obtaining the Fairmined certification is starting a path of change, it is unlearning what you have been doing for years, and learning to do it well.” Juliana from La Gabriela
A mine with a peasant soul
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AUDIT SUMMARY
THE CERTIFICATION AND THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS
They bet on ecological mining, for which they work with environmentally friendly processes, such as the gravimetric table in the gold benefit phase which replaces the use of mercury. With the Fairmined label, they seek to take their gold to international markets, which, as in La Gabriela, give priority to sustainable metals with low environmental impact. They focus their efforts on installing their own power plant and on studies to search for ore with greater efficiency. Cocoa, rubber, and other products they grow will continue to be part of their economic activities since their objective is to remain an Agro-Mining organization.
Currently, La Gabriela employs 2 women and 12 men at its mine. During the certification process, they implemented best practices, such as configuring their administrative system and systematizing records and processes to guarantee the traceability of gold production and commercialization. This strengthened their internal control processes and enables them to demonstrate the origin of their gold production. They also focused on ensuring occupational health and safety at work through training, implementation of standards, protective equipment, and a safety-conscious culture. The Fairmined certification has also driven progress in the operations, including the installation of a power plant and studies to improve efficiency in the search for minerals.
