UK law firm Leigh Day said on Tuesday that it had filed a case in the High Court in London, alleging that the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) has been wrongly certifying that gold sourced from a Tanzania gold mine is free from human rights abuses.

The case centres on the alleged killings of two individuals in the vicinity of Canadian miner Barrick Gold’s North Mara gold mine by police acting on its behalf.

The claimants stated that, despite a widely reported pattern of systematic human rights abuses associated with the mine over many years, the LBMA had continued to certify gold from North Mara under its LBMA Responsible Gold standard.

The LBMA has until early 2023 to respond to these claims, said Leigh Day.

The legal action issued at the High Court is the first time in the UK that human rights claimants have sued an industry certification body for an alleged breach of a duty of care owed to them. In this case, the claimants allege that the LBMA’s failure to follow its own rules to stop the trade in tainted gold caused their devastating loss.

RAID is not a party to the legal proceedings but said in a statement it supported the Tanzanian claimants’ decision in bringing this claim for remedy.

“We have repeatedly warned the LBMA that it is certifying tainted gold, and now bereaved Tanzanian families are taking direct action." said Anneke Van Woudenberg, executive director of RAID.

"This ground-breaking case should send a strong signal to business and regulatory bodies that certification schemes claiming products are ‘responsibly sourced’ cannot be empty ESG rhetoric. Investors and consumer-facing brands that rely on ESG schemes should all sit up and take notice of this critical legal challenge.”

Barrick, which is also not party to these claims, said in a statement that it was troubled by corporate watchdog RAID’s involvement in the litigation as that organisation had a long history of making unfounded allegations about purported human rights abuses North Mara.

CEO Mark Bristow said that the current matter was the latest in a series of lawyer-driven litigation concerning security incidents at and around the mine. Barrick was also concerned that vulnerable members of the local communities could be persuaded to make legally meritless claims outside their country in the hope of obtaining compensation.

“RAID does not have a presence in Tanzania and has shown no inclination to visit the mine, despite the personal invitations I have extended to them, most recently in July this year. Last month a planned visit was cancelled 48 hours before RAID was expected on site. We remain willing to host such a visit so that RAID can raise their concerns with the mine’s management, the police, local administrators and community leaders. It is worth noting that in a recent meeting we had with the leaders of the 11 villages around North Mara, they said they had no knowledge of RAID or the work it purports to do in their communities, and rejected the organisation allegations as baseless,” Bristow said.

Van Woudenberg rejected a notion that it has resisted meeting Barrick, explaining that it had proposed a meeting with the mining group in June 2019 and again in July 2021. She stated that Barrick in July this year agreed to RAID's proposal to meet, but requested the meeting to be held at North Mara. RAID is arranging to meet Barrick in Tanzania and hopes that it will occur in the New Year.

Meanwhile, Bristow said that Barrick was proud of its human rights record around the world and of North Mara’s strong working relationship with the communities around the mine.

Many of the mine’s employees have been drawn from the surrounding villages and in line with Barrick’s other operations, North Mara prioritises local employment and procurement.

“While the vast majority of local residents are law-abiding, there are rogue bands, armed and well-organised, who from time to time invade North Mara to steal gold-bearing rock, presenting a serious risk to the safety of mine personnel and community members in the process,” Bristow said.

“As recently as last month, North Mara was attacked by an armed force of almost 100 men. Despite the police’s attempts to repel them, 71 managed to scale the site’s 9-metre-high perimeter wall and engaged with the mine’s unarmed security personnel. The police eventually removed them but one of the invaders suffered fatal injuries. Two of the policemen were also injured. Barrick made a public announcement about the incident at the time. This was far from being a one-off occurrence. North Mara lives with the constant threat of such invasions,” Bristow said.

Bristow said Barrick had frequently made it clear that North Mara’s security personnel were unarmed and that the mine did not supervise, direct, control or instruct any mission, assignment or function of the Tanzanian police force, which is a State institution.