According to the latest sharing of A story of war and redemption: Conflict diamonds and diamond development by World Diamond Council. That story says, the promise provided by Artisanal Small-scale Mining [ASM] in the Sierra Leonean. In 2024 GemFair purchased its 10,000th diamond since 2018, with the largest stone having been 69.3 carats.
The program had grown from 14 participating mine sites to more than 400, collectively providing income to more than 6,000 miners and many more dependents and communities.
During interview on a local TV channel made during a visit he paid to Sierra Lone last year, De Beers CEO Al Cook commented on the transformation of the reputation of diamonds being produced in the country. Whereas 30 years ago, they were among the world’s most problematic, he noted, with the changes that have taken place they can be considered today as being among the most desirable.
In the past, Artisanal mining, however, remains a critically important factor in the Sierra Leonean economy. Although no empirical data on the exact number of people involved in artisanal mining has been published, the Sierra Leone government estimated in 2019 that artisanal mining and related activities provides livelihood support to at least 300,000 local citizens, and that upwards of 10 percent of Sierra Leoneans are impacted by artisanal diamond mining operations.
The operation that almost certainly has had the most exposure internationally in recent years is GemFair. Developed by De Beers, it provides artisanal miners in Sierra Leone with a viable and traceable route to the legitimate supply chain, as well training and a means to get a fair market price for what they produce.
GemFair was launched in 2018 in the Kono region of Sierra Leone and immediately started to provide services to registered artisanal miners at demarcated sites that had have been certified as compliant with the Maendeleo Diamond Standards (MDS).
When artisanal miners recover a diamond, they use an application on the tablet computer to register the stone, providing GSP-verification of the site at which it was mined, as well as basic gemological information.
The miner then delivers the diamond to the GemFair buying office where it is evaluated and an offer to purchase is made. If the miner accepts the offer, payment is prompt. However, miners are not obliged to sell their merchandise to GemFair, but, even if they do not, they will have been provided valuable information about the market value of diamonds in their possession, as well as the ability to sell their goods as Kimberley Process certified diamonds in the marketplace.
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