October 2, 2009

Jewelry retailers' opposition to Pebble Mine gains momentum

Four more leading jewelers with nearly $1 billion in sales vow not to buy Pebble gold

As commercial fishermen in Bristol Bay celebrate a record-breaking season, a wave of new jewelry retailers with nearly $1 billion in sales today pledged not to buy gold from the controversial Pebble Mine proposed for the bay's headwaters.

The four jewelers join 14 others, with combined sales of more than $3 billion, who have promised to reject gold extracted from the mine. More than 80 percent of gold demand in the United States is for jewelry.

Herff-Jones, Commemorative Brands Inc., Hacker Jewelers, and Birks and Mayors have taken this step at the invitation of local Alaskans who want to protect Bristol Bay's wild sockeye salmon fishery. Bristol Bay supplies 50 percent of the world's commercial supply of sockeye.

"Birks and Mayors proudly joins other responsible jewelers denouncing the proposed mining of precious metals at Bristol Bay," said John Orrico, senior vice president of Birks and Mayors, in a statement. "We trust that the jewelry industry will stand in support of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery thereby preserving this ecosystem while continuing to develop sustainable and responsible sources of supply."

Everett Thompson, a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman, said he wanted to thank all the jewelers who have vowed never to buy gold from the Pebble Mine.

"I am always amazed at the yearly return of Bristol Bay salmon and after having my best commercial fishing season in 26 years, I know first-hand what a shame it would be to put this irreplaceable fishery at risk," he said.

The four jewelers join more than a dozen other prominent retailers, including Tiffany & Co. and Helzberg Diamonds, who have pledged not to buy gold from the Pebble mine, a massive gold-copper-molybdenum mine proposed at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

Tiffany & Co. has also called on the rest of the jewelry industry to follow suit. Tiffany & Co. is running a new advertisement in the current issue of National Jeweler that states:

"Despite the best of intentions, 175 years of experience sourcing gemstones and precious metals tells us that there are certain places where mining cannot be done without forever destroying landscapes, wildlife and communities. Bristol Bay is one such place." (View the ad: http://www.nodirtygold.org/pubs-others/200909TiffanyAdforNJ.pdf

The mine is projected to be the largest in North America, generating billions of tons of mine waste. It is also expected to consume 35 billion gallons of water per year- about the same amount as the City of Anchorage. London-based mining giant Anglo American and Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty are partners in the project.

"It's not surprising that leading jewelers are backing local efforts to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from harmful mining," said Bonnie Gestring of Earthworks. "These jewelers know that their customers care that the gold they purchase shouldn't come at the expense of wild salmon and the people whose jobs and traditional ways of life depend on them."

At the same time that major salmon stocks, including those in Canada's Frasier River and the Pacific Northwest, are suffering serious declines, the Bristol Bay fishery celebrated a record-breaking year with the largest harvest in 20 years.

The proposed mine is widely opposed by Alaska Native communities, commercial fishermen, sports-fishing and tourism businesses, and local residents.

From a Nunamta Aulukestai press release