Arkhangai aimag is a home to 150,000 yaks, which represents 20 percent of its total livestock population. Herders annually supply more than 20 tonnes of premium-quality yak wool to domestic processing companies.

This year, the Arkhangai Aimag Federation of Pasture-User Groups of Herders - with support from the Arkhangai aimag government, the Tariat soum government and SDC’s Green Gold Project - organised the “Mongol Yak” Festival.

Boost local economy and development 

The festival, attended by hundreds of local herders and 3000 visitors, was aimed at raising awareness among herder families about the importance of improving the quality of primary raw materials, wool, dairy products, hides/skins and meat, facilitating better collaboration between yak herders, cooperatives and domestic processing companies for sustainable value-chain development, and promoting local community-based tourism development.

“The yak festival is very important to develop Yak culture and tourism to bring as more people to the region” said Mr. G. Altan-Ochir, governor of Tariat soum of Arkhangai aimag.

Arkhangai herders are among those pioneers within the sector who have adopted new methods of combing through to the shearing of yak wool, which has significantly improved both the level of output and quality of the down delivered to processing companies.

Living in the Khangai mountain ranges of Mongolia, yaks are highly resilient and well adapted to the region’s harsh environmental conditions. Products made from yak down and hair are renowned for their ability to retain warmth. Yak down is as soft as goat cashmere, with the additional benefits of being both durable and comfortable to wear.

The unique colours of yak down - platinum, black and brown - make it an attractive material for modern clothing. Yaks also produce a number of other high-quality and valuable products. Yak milk cream is known for its taste and nutritional value, and yarn and households goods made of yak wool and hair are known for their high quality.  

Highlights of Yak Festival 

Competitions held at the “Mongol Yak” Festival among herders for educational purposes included “The Best Yak Bull”, “The Herder Family with the Best Yak Herd”, “The Herder Family that Prepared the Highest Amount of Combed Yak Down”, “The Herder Family that Prepared the Best-Quality Yak Dairy Products”, “The Best-Decorated Yak”, and “The Best Handcrafted Products Made of Yak Raw Materials”. Competition awards were sponsored by domestic processing companies: Bayalag Ulzii, Sor Cashmere, Uujin, Mongol Textile, Altai Cashmere, Jinst Murun and Tengri.

Processing companies also organised a “Fashion Show” of products made from yak down for herders featuring the latest fashions and designs.

During the festival, processing companies sold products worth MNT 7.2 million. Herder families who took part in the festival sold dairy products to visitors, earning MNT 10,1 million in income.

Two local tour operators working in the region also supported the festival, sponsoring cultural performances and arranging for tourists to visit the event.

The festival, which concluded with a midnight fireworks display, was indeed a celebration of local community, networking and collaboration to ensure a better future for the region.

SDC’s Green Gold Project aims to promote collective actions among herder households for the sustainable use of rangelands, economic development, and equitable and effective local governance. For more information, please visit  www.greengold.mn

“It took almost three years for us to prepare and meet the requirements of the Fairmined certification,” said XAMODX NGO head Ch. Otgonbaatar. “It was hard work for all of our miners. Everyone tried hard and made a contribution to be acknowledged as responsible miners. We are very proud to be certified as fair miners.”

Fairmined gold is gold extracted by artisanal and small-scale miners certified under the Fairmined Standard by the Alliance for Responsible Mining, an international non-profit organisation recognised throughout the world as both a pioneer in, and a leader of, the promotion of responsible artisanal and small-scale mining.

The XAMODX NGO, from Tsagaan Tsahirt in Bayan-Ovoo soum, joins four other organisations in receiving the Fairmined certification, most of which hail from Latin America.

“The Fairmined gold from Mongolia’s artisanal miners will be the first ecological gold from Asia on the global market,” said Patience Singo, the International Director for SDC’s Sustainable Artisanal Mining (SAM) Project in Mongolia.

“This means the miners from this community are guaranteed a minimum price that is not lower than 95 percent of the London Metal Exchange fixed price. In addition, they can access to the premium of the ecological gold, which is an additional USD 6000 per kilo - an incentive to the community of miners to further develop responsible mining or support their social and environmental development for the benefit of its members.”

There is growing demand for, and interest in, ethically mined gold for jewellery in western markets for which jewellers are willing to pay a higher price.

Mr Singo said a number of top brand western jewellers had already expressed interest in sourcing gold from Mongolia if it was mined ecologically.

In order to tap into western jewellery markets, the Mongolian artisanal miners will have to establish a trading company that can negotiate such deals. In this regard, the XAMODX NGO is working on setting up a cooperative that has the legal capacity to deal with international markets and trade.

“We are keen to witness the historic moment when Mongolia’s artisanal miners export their ecological gold to the world market,” Mr Singo said. “This is not that far off, I believe.”

The Alliance for Responsible Mining support Fairmined certified miners, facilitating their access to ethical markets and is working to mediate international trade deals with Mongolian miners’ organisations.

Greater recognition for artisanal miners

The benefits of Fairmined certification are not limited to higher gold prices and premiums; perhaps the greatest advantage is the recognition it gives to Mongolia’s artisanal miners - a sector that, until recently, was scorned and despised by society for their environmental damage and derogatively labelled “ninjas”.

“As we started to take responsibility for our mining operations, attitudes within our community and our society have changed,” said former XAMODX NGO head L. Byambadorj. “They no longer see as threats to their community and wellbeing, but rather as partners and contributors to the development of our community.”

The turning point for the XAMODX NGO came in 2011 during a study tour to then Fairtrade-Fairmined-certified Cotapata mining site in Bolivia. Understanding the benefits and recognition that came with certification, Byambadorj returned to Mongolia determined to mobilise his fellow miners in making it a reality for his NGO.

“After I returned from Latin America, I said to my fellow miners that the environment is number one for our work,” he said.

From that moment on, their environmental efforts took precedence. They erected proper toilets outside their mining settlement, established a garbage disposal point to ensure environmental hygiene, and organised regular mass cleanings in their settlement area. Most importantly, they ensured that no miners used toxic chemicals such as mercury - a practice banned in Mongolia given the threat it posed to artisanal miners and surrounding communities.

In addition, the SAM Project supported the construction of a mercury-free ore-processing plant in Bayankhongor aimag which XAMODX NGO miners use to safely process their gold.

“We ensured the traceability of the gold we produced,” Byambadorj said. “The XAMODX NGO member partnerships register their daily ore production at the mining area, including information on the shaft area, number, coordinates, date of extraction, the number of bags with ore, total average weight, worked hours, number of miners worked and their signature.”

Based on the daily registration sheet, the NGO issues a Certificate of Origin for ore transported to the processing plant, which keeps a record of gold production.

Social development is another important component of Fairmined Certification. The NGO ensures there is no child labour, improved labour conditions and appropriate working hours for its members. It also ensures that all members pay income tax and health and social insurance in accordance with Mongolian law.

“All the gold produced by NGO members has been sold through formal channels. We also ensure that every member receives a fair share of the profits, and we do it transparently,” L. Byambadorj said.

The Fairmined certification is valid for up to 12 months, followed by a third-party inspection to ensure that standards are being maintained. The XAMODX NGO miners are committed to holding on to their certification, and hope they will be an inspiration for other artisanal miners in Mongolia. In turn, the example set by the NGO is a big step towards the formalisation of Mongolia’s artisanal mining sector.

For more information and images, please contact Swiss Cooperation Office in Ulaanbaatar

Email: Soyolmaa.dolgor@eda.admin.ch