Press release – GemFair was announced by De Beers Group in April 2018 to support the formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector by raising standards and opening up a new source of ethical diamond supply via De Beers Group’s industry-leading distribution channel.
It’s the first programme of its kind to work directly with artisanal miners to improve working practices by providing a formal route to market, offering fair value, delivering education and training and tracing ethically-sourced ASM diamonds directly from the source using a bespoke digital solution.
Ultimately, GemFair is focused on improving the standards – and thereby the reputation – of the ASM sector, and enhancing prospects for those who work in it.
While the ASM sector represents an important source of global diamond production and is a critical livelihood, artisanal miners face many barriers, with a lack of capital, low productivity and informal practices being among the most notable. Legacy concerns regarding conflict diamonds also mean ASM diamonds are often perceived negatively by consumers, when the reality is the vast majority of ASM production is not from conflict zones.
These barriers mean artisanal miners lack access to formal distribution channels, rarely receive fair value for their production and ASM diamonds are often considered ‘unethical’ due to a lack of consistent standards across the sector.
The sector is in need of formalisation in order to establish itself as a legitimate source of diamond supply; however, with a complex mining ecosystem and operating conditions that are vastly different from the large-scale diamond mining sector, the approach to supporting formalisation must be tailored, incremental and robust.
GemFair was launched following an extensive period of analysis to gain understanding of the unique challenges facing the ASM sector. The programme is underpinned by its digital solution in the form of both software (GemFair app) and hardware (GemFair digital toolkit) that ensures diamonds can be traced directly from the mine for those sites that are approved to participate in the programme. Participation is dependent on meeting GemFair’s minimum criteria, aligned with the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Supply Chain of Minerals, and miners must either participate in GemFair’s Responsible ASM Assurance Programme or the Diamond Development Initiative’s Maendeleo Diamond StandardsTM (MDS) Programme.
From starting with 16 MDS certified mine sites at launch, there are currently 94 sites participating in GemFair, all of which align with our minimum ethical and operating requirements, and we have a dedicated local team working closely with the participating miners to monitor compliance and support progress. The programme is also independently audited, and our first audit took place last year.
There have been many achievements and learnings since GemFair first started operations in Sierra Leone. Most encouragingly, the programme has been very well received by the local ASM sector, our fully traceable digital solution is proving effective, we have robust risk management processes, and we’ve seen a genuine willingness from participating mine sites to raise standards and embrace a journey of continuous improvement.
While these are still early days and we continue to refine our approach, we’ve seen significant progress already, demonstrating GemFair’s potential to positively transform the sector.
Our first formal progress report, The GemFair Way, provides an overview of GemFair’s key achievements to date, how the programme and our digital solution works, and our focus as we move into our next year of operation. We have a lot of work ahead and I look forward to continuing to share our progress.
Feriel Zerouki
Senior Vice-President, Industry Relations and Ethical Initiatives, De Beers Group; and General Manager, GemFair
Photo © GemFair
