BSS/AFP) - A far-reaching civil suit opens Wednesday at London`s High Court with families of two miners killed at a Tanzanian mine in 2019 suing a body at the heart of the gold industry.

The families argue that if The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which certifies responsibly sourced gold, had acted properly, the men would not have died at the North Mara gold mine in northwestern Tanzania.

The men, both aged 23 and married, have not been named to protect their families, according to Leigh Day, the legal firm representing the plaintiffs.

The "certifying body ... accredited gold from the mine as being responsibly sourced despite a mass of public evidence of years of alleged systemic human rights abuses", Leigh Day said in a summary of the complaint released to AFP.

When security forces arrived to disperse artisanal miners, one of the men "was allegedly violently assaulted by Tanzanian police officers, suffering a gunshot wound" in July 2019, before dying from a loss of blood.

The second man lost his life in December 2019 after "police officers ... opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas".

"He was allegedly shot in the back," Leigh Day added.

- Negligent -

The LBMA, a leading industry body in London`s precious metals market, accredits gold and silver refiners which have to follow set technical and responsible-sourcing standards.

Only gold and silver bars meeting those standards are accepted by London`s wholesale bullion market.

Leigh Day maintains the association had been negligent by renewing the accreditation of Indian refiner MMTC-PAMP, which processed the gold from North Mara.

The association has said it became aware of the connection between the refining company and the mine in June 2019 and subsequently launched a review that led to improvements.

Thirty other people have joined the lawsuit, but their claims remain on hold until after the end of the trial, which is due to last six weeks, according to Leigh Day.