The World Gold Council (WGC), OCIM Metals and Mining SA (OMM) announced on Wednesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the formalization of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). This partnership combines WGC’s experience in standards development, best practices and gold market infrastructure with OMM’s operational experience in centralized processing plants. Together, they plan to develop a global standard for ASGM processing plants, which includes practicing due diligence, traceability and environmental and safety performance. The standard will also support WGC’s gold processing initiative, which aims to pilot formalization models in host countries. WGC’s plan for ASGM formalization focuses on three aspects: origin verification, centralized processing plants and stronger participation by legitimate buyers to combat illicit mining practices.