BOOK CORNER - a Roundup of Books on Gold and Extractives
The content of this article is the opinion of the writer and was written for The Source
Photo credit: Christina Malle
Are your favorite jewelry books replete with glossy photos, preferably of gorgeous pieces from different artists and eras? Mine are! Jewels by Jar, or Jewelry by Suzanne Belperron, anyone? And yet, perhaps the most informative jewelry books I’ve read in the past few years have focused on mining and extractives. Naturally, there are incredibly helpful sites too, but sometimes a book provides the depth that a reader craves. This is the first column in a new series: book suggestions on a particular topic.
Stay tuned for the next installment of “Book Corner” in early 2022, which will look at books about the business of jewelry.
Fascinating and Informative: Nonfiction on Gold and Extractives
Photo credit: Christina Malle
King Leopold’s Ghost
Adam Hochschild, 1998
Did you know that a former king of Belgium claimed what we call the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as his own personal property? This book explains how that came to be, and also happens to be one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. This history provides the context for today’s inequitable world. If you’ve been wondering how our extractive industries got to be this way, or why certain supply chains are so opaque, this is a great place to start.
Photo credit: Christina Malle
Spies in the Congo: America’s Atomic Mission in World War II
Susan Williams, 2016
Spies in the Congo focuses on the desperate race the Americans undertook for control of high-grade uranium. The history of King Leopold and the Belgians ricochets throughout this story. Diamonds are only peripheral to this book about the WWII and Cold War race to control uranium, but one learns an enormous amount about the US’s involvement in the area from the 1940s through the 1970s. These events still echo today, and like King Leopold’s Ghost, give us the context of extractives in the DRC today.
Photo credit: Christina Malle
Gold: The Race for the World’s Most Seductive Metal
Matthew Hart, 2014
This is an engaging read, explaining the historic importance of gold and the gold trade. Hart delves into how gold is mined, traded, and valued by central banks, jewelers, and more. He also explains how artisanal miners (formalized or not) contribute to the gold trade too; this is not only about large-scale mining. The primer on gold — and a great read!
Photo credit: Christina Malle
Gold Laundering: The Dirty Secrets of the Gold Trade
Mark Pieth, 2019
The subtitle of this book says it all, and it was written by a former regulator in Switzerland! “Swiss gold” does not refer to gold mined in Switzerland; it refers to gold that was processed, refined, or stored there. How did the gold arrive in Switzerland? Where was it mined and what stops did it make along the way, whether legitimate or not? Who benefits from those transactions and from the opacity in the gold supply chain?
Photo credit: Megan Cochran
Dirty Gold: The Rise and Fall of an International Smuggling Ring
Jay Weaver, Nicholas Nehamas, Jim Wyss, and Kyra Gurney, 2020
The authors’ series of articles on this topic in The Miami Herald led to a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Would you believe that a college student from Chile smuggled about $80 million US dollars worth of gold into the United States? The illegal gold was subsequently refined in Florida and Ohio, blended with legitimate gold, and entered our own supply chain. How is that so? Read on!
Photo credit: Bookshop
Congo Stories: Battling Five Centuries of Exploitation and Greed
John Prendergast and Fidel Bafilemba, 2018
Full disclosure: I haven’t read this yet, but Mark Hanna wrote about how powerful – and incredibly disturbing – it is during the recent Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference. Mark seems quite sage, and by dint of his recommendation alone, I’m guessing this is an important book to add to the roster.
Do you have a book recommendation? Please add your list to our comments section at the bottom of the post!
Photo credit: Christina Malle
The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources
Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, 2021
The authors of this book, who are both journalists at Bloomberg, penned an opinion piece that ran in The New York Times earlier this year. The title on the Opinion page of May 16, 2021 was “Drag Commodity Traders Out of the Shadows.” Why is this book even here, especially since its focus is on commodities such as oil and gas? The subtitle of course encompasses the materials that many jewelers work with. This book shines a bright light on the world of commodities and the big money that traders push, pull, and send around the world. Anyone with a smartphone can check the daily price of precious metals, but who creates and controls the commodity markets – and are they accountable?
Online Sources
Ethical Metalsmiths – of course!
Where Are the Books on Colored Gemstones?
This researcher is searching for books that explore the business and trade of colored gemstones. Perhaps it would take a dozen books to capture just an iota of such a bifurcated market. Can anyone suggest a few titles? Not about the gemology or aesthetics of colored gemstones (as much as I appreciate those topics), but rather the history and current state of the trade?
It’s a huge market, in terms of dollar value. Where’s the scholarship on it? Or even the business press on this topic? Likewise, please add helpful titles on platinum and silver. And, as always, thank you for reading!
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