:00:03. > :00:13.gold in east Congo. It explores how will it finds its way onto the
:00:13. > :00:17.
:00:17. > :00:27.international market. Everything we use in our daily
:00:27. > :00:32.
:00:32. > :00:42.lives has an origin. Do we know where that is? Do we care? This is
:00:42. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:51.gold. Issues are complex and there is work in progress. In the eastern
:00:51. > :01:01.Congo, profits from gold and other minerals pay for war. It has been
:01:01. > :01:22.
:01:22. > :01:32.There is a swathe of central Africa that should be rich from the mining
:01:32. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :01:41.and minerals, but is not. This gold mine is in the southern area of
:01:41. > :01:47.eastern Congo. Technically, it is illegal. Children were care when
:01:47. > :01:55.they should be at school. Next in the muddy water, they hope to trap
:01:55. > :02:05.fragments of gold. Soldiers slipped away when we arrived. They taxi
:02:05. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:34.miners, forcing them to give a full They know of no other way. These
:02:34. > :02:42.miners and now at the centre of an ambitious global experiment that
:02:42. > :02:45.stretches from the mountain side to the power of the US Congress. And
:02:45. > :02:55.the long-term impact that may change the face of the developing
:02:55. > :03:02.
:03:02. > :03:12.world. With gold, there is always the thrill of the big find. This
:03:12. > :03:22.
:03:22. > :03:30.man is 38 and has four children. He These men had down the mine. It is
:03:30. > :03:37.not a modern world. With no safety equipment and all the battery
:03:37. > :03:44.lights, the most basic of tools, a spike and a hammer. They hack into
:03:44. > :03:52.the mountain face. What comes from here is classified as a conflict
:03:52. > :03:59.mineral. From the mountain, they take the rocks down to the river,
:03:59. > :04:09.where they are broken up and crashed. -- crashed. Then the pen
:04:09. > :04:26.
:04:26. > :04:35.for the precious metals. The jokes Then, everyone focuses. Some has
:04:35. > :04:40.been found in the crease to the shovel. -- of the shovel. Almost
:04:40. > :04:46.all the gold from Conqueror is illegal, and there is plenty to pay
:04:46. > :04:55.for the small-scale war. About $1 billion a year - and have to buy
:04:55. > :05:00.millions of assault rifles. It took months to negotiate access here.
:05:00. > :05:05.These are the middle man, waiting with their scales, money and phones
:05:05. > :05:15.to by the gold directly off the miners. They don't want any change
:05:15. > :05:21.
:05:21. > :05:25.to the way things work. The people here are caught in a battle of
:05:25. > :05:31.wills. Warlords who want to keep this well-tested operation the way
:05:31. > :05:40.it is. And the modern, more transparent world which finds it
:05:40. > :05:50.unpalatable. America is prompting change with a new law, the impact
:05:50. > :05:55.
:05:55. > :05:59.Colt and this old container could never comply with the US
:05:59. > :06:04.legislation, which is seen as putting all their jobs at risk.
:06:04. > :06:07.From here, called begins its journey around the world, where it
:06:07. > :06:12.underwrites the wealth of Nations and is a symbol for prosperity and
:06:12. > :06:22.success. Very little of that is reflected in this village, whose
:06:22. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:27.people live at the very bottom of the supply chain. This is cold.
:06:27. > :06:36.Gold is a resilient conductor of electricity. But cops, phones, Wi-
:06:36. > :06:43.Fi equipment. Companies are now being challenged to say exactly
:06:43. > :06:51.where their raw materials come from. The miners, they can't afford the
:06:51. > :07:01.education of their children. They can't afford medical care. They
:07:01. > :07:03.
:07:03. > :07:13.can't afford good housing. They can't afford almost everything. We
:07:13. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:27.A familiar story of workers from the developing world involved in
:07:27. > :07:31.producing our consumer goods. being tackled by the muscle of the
:07:31. > :07:37.law. In the US company that might be using conflict minerals will
:07:37. > :07:42.have to reveal itself to the government. Their hand forced
:07:42. > :07:47.because self-regulation did not work. Do you think it is necessary
:07:47. > :07:51.to have legislation in order to claim up these minerals? I think
:07:51. > :07:55.evidence shows us that without legislation, companies are
:07:55. > :08:02.reluctant to act. There are some who will always trying to do the
:08:02. > :08:06.right thing, but the majority are reluctant to reform without
:08:06. > :08:16.legislation making them do so. Guinea name some of the good
:08:16. > :08:26.
:08:26. > :08:36.We head off again along dreadful roads. This time, to a tin mine.
:08:36. > :08:45.
:08:45. > :08:55.Also, a key commodity for household appliances. This mining town is in
:08:55. > :08:59.
:08:59. > :09:07.the front line. A Congolese army keeps a fragile peace here, but the
:09:07. > :09:13.spectre of violence is always close. -- the Congolese army. Already,
:09:13. > :09:20.afraid of the Congo's minerals did not, some of big foreign companies
:09:20. > :09:23.have stopped buying from here, impacting the whole community. The
:09:23. > :09:28.miners tell me they have worked hard to get rid of armed militia
:09:28. > :09:38.and child labour and make their mind legal. Business will pick up
:09:38. > :09:40.
:09:40. > :09:46.again. Even without fuelling conflict, are these working
:09:46. > :09:56.conditions really acceptable? Every day, they have to go deeper into
:09:56. > :09:57.
:09:57. > :10:03.the mountain. Heads bent, dripping water, the roofs held up only by
:10:03. > :10:09.timber struts. -- the roof. There is hope that if foreign companies,
:10:09. > :10:19.the government and consumers keep up pressure, there could be
:10:19. > :10:34.
:10:34. > :10:41.reformed and the minerals here The mine itself has been checked by
:10:41. > :10:46.the government and given illegal status. It is officially certified
:10:46. > :10:50.that there is a -- it is a Green mind - the best around to buy
:10:50. > :10:54.minerals from. Actually, it is incredibly dangerous inside. It
:10:54. > :11:00.just means there are no militia control limit and no children
:11:00. > :11:07.working here. -- controlling it. These are the new problems they
:11:07. > :11:14.face. The US law has forced a de facto embargo. Conger minerals are
:11:14. > :11:24.tainted by war and international business no longer wants them.
:11:24. > :11:25.
:11:25. > :11:35.Merchants have not been paid for It is a 50 mile drive to the next
:11:35. > :11:37.
:11:37. > :11:44.stage of the supply chain. Here, traders stuck the minerals on the
:11:44. > :11:51.global journey. But not so much nowadays. -- start. People lie idle
:11:51. > :11:57.and things are barely ticking over. They say their regular customers
:11:57. > :12:01.suddenly abandoned them. Even before the US legislation became
:12:01. > :12:07.law, the Americans and Europeans stopped buying from this company,
:12:08. > :12:14.throwing it into debt. Now, it has found a new client with these drums
:12:14. > :12:18.of tin stockpiles are going. To China. It is the main global place
:12:18. > :12:28.for electronics and consumer goods but does not share the human rights
:12:28. > :12:38.values Western democracies do. Question - how does an environment
:12:38. > :12:41.
:12:41. > :12:46.from another age evolve into the global values of modern times? How
:12:46. > :12:52.to ensure that some people's measure of success and passion is
:12:52. > :12:57.not created on the suffering of others. And that the production of
:12:57. > :13:03.a precious metal, used to underpin economic stability, does not cause
:13:03. > :13:06.poverty and violence elsewhere. Gold is about to be given an
:13:06. > :13:11.international standard of production. The ultimate goal is to
:13:11. > :13:17.make sure that everybody can have confidence that the gold they are
:13:17. > :13:23.buying is conflict free, absolutely. Will there be a stamp or logo?
:13:23. > :13:28.the moment, in terms of our standard, there will be a statement
:13:28. > :13:31.of conformance that goes with the gold from the mind to the refinery.
:13:31. > :13:36.Then as we are talking about refinery and further down the
:13:36. > :13:42.supply chain, there may be certain initiatives that looked provide a
:13:42. > :13:50.standard. If that it is not certain yet? No. And you have to remember
:13:50. > :13:58.the supply chain is very complex. This is how the big players do it.
:13:58. > :14:05.Two miles underground. Huge machinery cards up a mountain. --
:14:05. > :14:11.cards. A far cry from the loan miner with his hammer and spike.
:14:11. > :14:17.This is a mine in South Africa, run by the company Gold Fields. Just
:14:17. > :14:27.one ounce of gold means they have to escalate more than six tons of
:14:27. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:32.rock. -- excavate. They have the safety gear. 250,000 ounces a year.
:14:32. > :14:36.That is worth $400 million, depending on the price. They might
:14:36. > :14:46.need and willed it down. For what is produced, everybody knows how it
:14:46. > :14:55.is made and where it comes from. There is an important role for
:14:55. > :14:59.responsible, corporate citizens to demonstrate that they are doing
:14:59. > :15:04.things and away where they can be trusted and operating
:15:04. > :15:07.responsibility of. Like financial reporting. The standard is a way of
:15:07. > :15:12.providing that the level of confidence. But even that is not
:15:12. > :15:18.enough for some. You want more? We want more disclosure, we want to
:15:18. > :15:21.be able to say, here is the product, here is the stamp. But more
:15:21. > :15:25.importantly, disclosing the information. These are the steps we
:15:25. > :15:35.took along our supply chain so I can see as an consumer or investor
:15:35. > :15:42.
:15:42. > :15:47.that this product was not funding At the moment they cannot. The
:15:47. > :15:52.journey between the mind and the high street store can get very
:15:52. > :15:58.murky. In a strange twist, the more Al-Ghad its developer, the more
:15:58. > :16:03.everybody gets connected. -- the more our gadgets. And the greater
:16:03. > :16:07.our demands for parity. But we are not there yet. Everywhere we look
:16:07. > :16:13.there is a connection to the raw products of the Neal Street. One of
:16:13. > :16:18.the biggest electronic makers told me that we cannot guarantee where
:16:18. > :16:28.our minerals come from. -- minerals trade. No company can at least we
:16:28. > :16:32.
:16:32. > :16:35.are open and honest about that. The pressure of globalisation. Uganda -
:16:35. > :16:40.the booming African economy trading with her whether it wants to do
:16:40. > :16:49.business with. It is next door to Congo and its conflict minerals.
:16:49. > :16:53.Even a small legitimate jeweller does not know where his gold comes
:16:53. > :16:59.from. We do not have problems getting cold. Whatever we need.
:16:59. > :17:05.Even in the Congo or Tanzania. gold could come from anywhere?
:17:05. > :17:11.You don't know where it comes from? Yes. To make his rings, he uses
:17:12. > :17:17.gold from Auld computer parts and melts it down. Gold is the most
:17:17. > :17:24.difficult metal to track. You can melt it, change it, reshape it and,
:17:24. > :17:31.in an economic crisis, it is the metal everybody wants. Public
:17:31. > :17:40.demand. I want to be safe. Gold is money. Whenever you want, you can
:17:40. > :17:46.go and make it cash. These are the Kampala slums for those who have
:17:46. > :17:56.fled Congo's violence over the years. With them comes the
:17:56. > :18:01.organised crimes smuggling rings. BC, -- busy, murky and corrupt. The
:18:01. > :18:06.gold trade has proved its worth. The value has risen five -- five
:18:06. > :18:13.times in the last ten years. Each year, an estimated 15% of all gold
:18:13. > :18:16.produced may be untraceable. That is what a massive $20 billion. UN
:18:16. > :18:23.investigators have spent years uncovering the criminal networks
:18:23. > :18:27.and methods. What they found on conflict gold in Uganda was
:18:27. > :18:35.chilling. Only a fraction of the gold that travels through here is
:18:35. > :18:39.actually recorded. The UN estimates just 15%. Meaning, 85% of it is
:18:39. > :18:44.exported illegally to join the international black market. The
:18:44. > :18:52.first stop is usually the Middle East and Asia. How much of that is
:18:52. > :19:01.illegal? Almost all of it is illegal. Almost all of it. Most of
:19:02. > :19:10.this is gold that his undeclared, smuggled. These are familiar images
:19:10. > :19:20.of central Africa. Warlords in it for themselves. This one is now
:19:20. > :19:22.
:19:22. > :19:32.under arrest. And massacres. 6 million dead in Congo in the past
:19:32. > :19:36.
:19:36. > :19:44.15 years. The minerals should be a source of wealth, of well-being. It
:19:44. > :19:50.is chaos. A source of death in this country. That is why anybody who is
:19:50. > :20:00.human should say, no. We can make this business more valuable, more
:20:00. > :20:05.
:20:05. > :20:11.human. Here, the human lives of the illegal gold mine. Men supporting
:20:11. > :20:21.families, born into a life from which it is difficult to escape.
:20:21. > :20:46.
:20:46. > :20:56.Vincent, their leader, has been And here at the legal mind, they
:20:56. > :21:10.
:21:10. > :21:20.just want to be able to sell their Fidel's family dressed up for our
:21:20. > :21:20.
:21:20. > :21:28.cameras in front of their wooden hut that his home. They are hoping
:21:28. > :21:33.that not begging on change the boys expect to go down the mines. How
:21:33. > :21:39.much can a law from a faraway land really change the culture that has
:21:39. > :21:46.been so deeply embedded for so long? Is it a pipe dream? Who could
:21:46. > :21:50.actually make it work? There is some real potential if this is done
:21:50. > :21:54.properly. If companies take responsibility, act in the right
:21:54. > :21:58.way. If people down the supply chain are doing their duty of --