Rio Tinto in Wal-Mart Partnership for “Traceable” Jewelry

Rio Tinto announced Tuesday a partnership with Wal-Mart to provide gold and silver for the mega-retailer’s new Love, Earth jewelry collection, which it says will be “fully traceable” and “responsibly produced.” Rio said in a statement that this is part of Wal-Mart’s initiative to achieve 100 percent traceability for all the gold and silver jewelry sold at its stores.

The project will initially focus on gold and silver jewelry using metal from a Rio mine in Utah, to be sold at Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Club location, and online at walmart.com and samsclub.com.

Consumers will be able to trace their Love, Earth jewelry back to the mine from which it was produced on the retailer’s website, Rio said in a statement, marking “a shift in how Wal-Mart jewelry is produced and sold.”