De Beers Expands GemFair Project

RAPAPORT... De Beers is broadening a pilot project aimed at creating a secure and transparent route to market for artisanally mined diamonds with ethical sourcing. The miner introduced GemFair in April 2018 in Sierra Leone, whereit worked with 16 mine sites to improve ethical standards and workingconditions for miners, while enabling them to sell roughthrough De Beers' main distribution channel. Over the past six months, thecompany has further developed the pilot to encompass 38 more sites. "Although the sector faces many challenges, we've beendelighted with how the pilot has gone so far, and it has proved its ability touse digital innovation to support responsible business practices and delivertraceability," Feriel Zerouki, De Beers' senior vice president of internationalrelations and ethical initiatives, said last week. "We believe we haveidentified opportunities to make it even more impactful, and are excited toexpand the pilot's reach to more sites in Sierra Leone." GemFair has developed digital technology that enables it to track all diamonds registered in the program. In the future, DeBeers plans to integrate that solution into its Tracr blockchain platform. "The GemFair model has huge long-term potential to transformthe ASM [artisanal and small-scale miners] sector by formalizing access to international markets and raisingoperating and ethical standards across the sector," Zerouki added. Image: Artisanal diamond miners in Sierra Leone. (Kaibsaquee)