Murena and Fairphone announce Black Friday campaign supporting ethical gold mining in smartphone manufacturing

Murena, which provides privacy-focused software and smartphones, has partnered with ethical smartphone hardware manufacturer Fairphone on a Black Friday campaign to donate and highlight the ethical mining of gold, a key component in smartphone manufacturing.

Rather than reducing prices, from 25th November – 2nd December the brands will be donating €40 for every Fairphone smartphone purchased through murena.com to a Fairmined-certified Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) project in Huila, Colombia.

Gold is a key component in smartphone circuitry. In the entirety of human history, 200,000 tonnes of gold have been mined and allegedly only 50,000 tonnes of reserves remain. Being a limited, valuable resource, the mining of gold often involves illegal activity, human exploitation, and destruction of the natural environment.

The Murena and Fairphone donations will benefit the Iquira mine in Huila, Colombia, an agro-mining cooperative. Certified under the Fairmined Standard since 2014, Iquira mines in a responsible way, protecting nature while ensuring fair wages for its people.

The Fairmined certification helps artisanal and small-scale mining organisations become sustainable, responsible businesses. It grants access to fair markets and offers a premium, benefiting both the miners and their communities. The certification also promotes better governance through ethical practices, transparency, and long-term improvements, fostering positive change in the mining sector.

The Huila region is one of Colombia’s most ecologically diverse areas but faces serious issues including pollution, water contamination, and deforestation, stemming from unsustainable resource management.

Gaël Duval, CEO at Murena said, “At Murena, we believe that technology should empower people and we’re proud to join forces with Fairphone during Black Friday, a time when the focus is often on consumption. Instead of discount incentives that encourage consumption, we are thrilled to be jointly supporting Fairmined, a great project that is helping to make working conditions better for the people who are mining the materials in our phones. Together, we can support ethical technology that respects both the environment and human rights, paving the way for a more sustainable future.”

Monique Lempers, Chief Impact Officer at Fairphone said, “We’re proud to show that there’s a different way to approach Black Friday. We want to encourage our customers to consume electronics responsibly. By buying a Murena Fairphone during the Black Friday period, they purchase a long-lasting smartphone with open source software and ethically sourced materials; and as an extra, they will directly donate to a responsible gold mine in Colombia.”

In addition to being used for electronics, gold mined at Iquira has been used to create prestigious awards like the Nobel Peace Prize and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme D’Or.

Murena is a corporation that designs and sells Murena smartphones with /e/OS, a pro-privacy mobile operating system, and the Murena Cloud, an online workspace that provides media and office document management, email, and calendar services.

/e/OS is an open-source mobile operating system that is committed to providing better data privacy and security for individuals and corporations. It provides advanced privacy features, such as tracker management, while offering a user-friendly experience, and full compatibility with all mobile applications.

Fairphone is a pioneering leader in the ethical smartphone industry, committed to creating quality sustainable products that are built to last as transparently as possible, challenging the status quo of the electronics industry. By prioritizing fairness, environmental responsibility, and social impact, Fairphone aims to inspire positive change across the technology sector and beyond.

The latest device, the Fairphone 5, is described with the tagline ‘Designed for you, Made Fair’. Fairphone 5 offers a 5-year warranty as well as software support until at least 2031 and contains fairly sourced materials, challenging the electronics industry to take a more responsible approach. Fairphone 5 is an electronic waste-neutral smartphone and climate-conscious, meaning that it combines CO2 avoidance, reduction, and investment in Gold Standard carbon reduction projects.