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De Beers Group has announced that GemFair, the company’s programme to help formalise the artisanal and small-scale diamond mining (ASM) sector, has sold its first parcels of ethically sourced, traceable diamonds.
A variety of rough diamonds sourced from GemFair-registered ASM sites in Sierra Leone were made available for sale at the auction event.
The lots presented for sale contained diamonds of varying qualities and sizes, with the largest weighing 11 carats. Following good customer interest, all the gem quality lots were sold.
Since beginning as a pilot in Sierra Leone in 2018 with 14 registered ASM sites, GemFair has expanded to nearly 200 sites participating in the programme today.
Steve Allan, head of GemFair, said: “This is a very exciting milestone for GemFair and the artisanal miners who are part of our programme.
“Since starting operations in 2018, we’ve been focused on bringing beautiful, traceable, ethically sourced ASM diamonds to market and to demonstrate that buying diamonds from artisanal and small-scale miners in a responsible way is the right thing to do and has the potential to be transformative for the sector.”
He added: “We will continue to work at finding the best ways to bring the unique story of GemFair diamonds, and the role they have played in providing equal opportunity and enhanced working standards for artisanal miners, to a wider audience.”
