Green Gold -an Innovative Sustainable Mining Scheme Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

AMICHOCO, an NGO, was founded in 1996 in the Colombian department of Choco, one of the poorest in the country and had the largest inhabited by ethnic minorities of African origin and also had the intense biodiversity from all over the world. The organization transformed the living standards of communities through the implementation of effective social and environmental sustainability projects.

In 2000 the Oro Verde Corporation (OVC), a cross-sector alliance comprised of three local social organizations, formation was highly encouraged by the Foundation. OVC incorporated a traditional small scale mining as an effective option in the Green Gold program that recently developed by the foundation and that could be integrated into particular market niches.

The case demonstrates the significance of mining industry to its economy and the circumstances of Choco department. The case also describes the role of AMICHOCO in the creation of OVC and its inception, and includes description of the Green Gold program, with primary focus on its value proposition: a plan of action that articulated conventional gold production in Choco with green international markets. Furthermore, it describes the concerns showed by the representatives of community about the effectiveness and capacity in developing economy.

These concerns generated the need of creating alliances with medium-scale private mining companies to increase the economic outcomes of the model. The case is accompanied with an exhibit that provide the insights of Choco department’s characteristics, environmental and social outcomes of medium-scale mining, an ecological preservation criteria governing the Green Gold model, and traditional mining and mechanized mining operation’s financial results estimation.