Alrosa Joins De Beers Blockchain

RAPAPORT... De Beers has signed up Alrosa to its blockchain pilot, bringingthe world's two largest diamond producers together for the source-verificationproject. "We believe tracing requires industry cooperation andcomplementation for the sake of a common goal," Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov said ina statement Monday. De Beers' Tracr platform tracks diamonds from the miningstage to finished jewelry using a tamper-proof record of each stone's route throughthe supply chain. The pilot launched earlier this year, with diamondmanufacturers Diacore, Diarough, KGK Group, Rosy Blue and Venus Jewelparticipating alongside retailer Signet Jewelers. Alrosa's involvement has thepotential to expand the project significantly, as the two miners together account for just under half of global rough production. "The collective efforts of the world's two leadingdiamond producers will enable more of the world's diamonds to be tracked ontheir journey from mine to retail," De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver added. "Having acritical level of production on the platform will deliver significant benefitsfor consumers and diamond-industry participants." Alrosa was also one of the early participants in M2M, amine-to-market tracking program and mobile app for consumers that theGemological Institute of America (GIA) launched in 2017.Image: Rough diamonds from Alrosa. (Alrosa)