Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling illegal gold mining across the world.

The UK Government is committed to responsible gold extraction, for example, through encouraging compliance with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. The UK has funded OECD projects in West Africa and Colombia to promote local capacity building and uptake of the OECD guidance. The UK has also funded European Partnership for Responsible Minerals projects in the Great Lakes region in Africa to increase the proportion of responsibly sourced minerals, working across the whole of the supply chain. In April, we are preparing to discuss responsible mining with industry leaders at the Ghana Responsible Gold Mining Summit as part of Ghana's commitment to eradicate illegal mining.