More than 50 jewellers, including Tiffany & Co., Zale Corp., and Jostens, have now signed on to a campaign launched in 2008 to boycott gold from a controversial mining project in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed. The site of the Pebble Mine is home to one of the world’s largest mineralized systems, containing an estimated 80.6 billion pounds of copper and nearly 107.4 million ounces of gold, in addition to silver and other precious metals.
Unfortunately, Bristol Bay is also home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week it would begin a scientific review of the watershed to assess how large-scale development would impact water quality and the fishery.
The Pebble project is a joint venture between Anglo American and Northern Dynasty (in which Rio Tinto is a major shareholder).
See http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/02/14/jeweler-opposition-bristol-bay-gold-grows.