SPECIAL ISSUEDecember 2015

WORLD EMERALD UPDATE

Highlights of BogotaSymposium

Organized by Fedesmeraldas, the Colombian Emerald Federation, and supported by all the country’s emerald-related bodies and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the symposium addressed the challenges and opportunities faced by the world’s emerald industry, including resource management, manufacturing, treatments, certification, nomenclature, technology, consumer education and branding.The Symposium was followed by a field visit to the country’s best-know emerald mines by 30 participants, including geologists, gemologists, representatives of mining firms, high-end jewelry designers, traders and brand retailers. They visited the Muzo, Cunas, Pita and Chivor mines on the slopes of the Andean Mountains and received insights into the nature of the Colombian emerald industry.

Colombia opened its arms to welcome the world’s leading

emerald experts from October 13-15.

The First International Emerald Symposium was a huge success

with more than 300 delegates from Colombia and around the

world taking part.

More than 42 global emerald specialists from governments,

labs and private companies made presentations.

4 InColor ׀ Special Issue

SPECIAL ISSUE

CONTENTS

Cover page: Rough emeralds mined by Gemfields at the Kagem

mine in Zambia. (Photo courtesy of Gemfields)

SPECIAL ISSUE

WORLD EMERALD UPDATE

Highlights of BogotaSymposium

Foreword

Symposium Report and Presentations

6 Colombia Hosts First High-Level Global Emerald Symposium16 GemfieldsProvidesInsightsIntoEmeraldOperations17 BelmontHeadDescribesFirm›sBrazilianMiningBusiness18 HowZambiaTransformedItsEmeraldIndustry20 TheNewDynamicsoftheColombianEmeraldSector

Mine Tour

22 InSearchofColombia’sGreenDreams32 FlyingIntoTheHeartofColombia’sEmeraldMines

Education

44 EducationandtheMine-to-MarketStory50 BeautifyingEmeralds-ThePerennialDebate

Global Emerald Deposits

56 EmeraldDepositsAroundTheWorld,SimilaritiesAndDifferences70 TheEmeraldMinesofthePanjshirValley,Afghanistan78 EmeraldsinRussia:TheGeologyandGemologyoftheMalyshevMine

Emerald Origins

88 UpdateonStudiesofOriginofColombianEmeralds98 TheGeographicOriginDeterminationofEmeralds106 StandardsandProtocolsforEmeraldTesting

42

44

71

78

InColor ׀ Special Issue 5 www.gemstone.org

FOREWORD

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ISSN: 1158934X

World Emerald Sector Takes a Big Turn: Is This Green Stone Becoming a Commodity?

AfterthefirstinternationalEmeraldCongresswasheldinColombiain1997,no-onecouldhaveimaginedthatthesectorwouldevolvesomuch.However,

injustundertwodecades,Colombianemeraldshavelosttheirleadingglobalpositionasoutputhasfallentolessthan35%fromabout60%andthecountrynowfindsitselftrailingZambia.

Againstthisbackground,whenFedesmeraldas,theColombianEmeraldFederation,whichrepresentsemeraldproducers,merchants,dealersandexporters,startedplanningtheFirstWorldEmeraldSymposium,whichtookplacefromOctober13to15,itcouldnothaveimaginedthattheColombianandworldemeraldsectorhadexperiencedsuchahugechangeandwidespreadshowofinterest.Whatwasinitiallythoughttobeaninternationaleventorientedtoregionalandglobalmarketingandbrandingbecameaplatformwheregloballyimportantspeakersrepresentinggovernments,producers,tradeorganizations,labs,andmanyotherbodiesprovideddetailedpresentationsonallaspectsoftheemeraldsectorandaddressedthelatestdevelopmentsandpracticesofinternationalgemstoneminingcompaniesaswellasnewchallengesintermsoftraceabilityandregulations.

Thechangeintheemeraldsectorhasbeendramatic;biginvestorsandpubliclylistedcompanieshavechangeditforeverwithsmartmarketingreplacingromanceandmysterywithvalueandtransparencyandincreasedtheirgriponlargeproductionareas.Asophisticateddiamond-styleemeraldgradingclassificationisalreadyanestablishedfactfortheroughmaterialauctionedbymultinationalGemfieldsplcwhichhasmorethan400gradingcategoriesandiscreatingawiderunderstandingofthecriteriaforvalueandpricing.LeadingBrazilianemeraldminerBelmonthasdevelopedaverysuccessfulstate-of-the-artmechanized,high-techextractionandsortingprocessallowingaminimumlaborinvolvementandincreasedsecurityandtheftpreventionprocedures.

Around50yearsago,thebestdiamondsweresaidtocomefromSouthAfrica,withtheoriginbeingatypeofsynonymforquality.However,grading,marketingandeducationofconsumershaschangedthis,withtheoriginofdiamondsnotbeingasimportantasfarasqualityandvalueisconcerned,althoughoriginhasbecomecrucialfortraceability.

Withemeralds,providinganunderstandingofvaluebyusingclearcriteriaiscriticaltoattractingAsiancustomerswhoalreadysurpasswesternconsumersinpurchasesandarecertaintokeepgrowinginnumbers.Aconstantsupply,clearclassificationsandanunderstandingofthebasisforthestones›valuewillenableasignificantincreaseindemandandrisingpricesandalsoencourageariseinlong-termmininginvestments.ThisneweraisalsoillustratedbyMuzoInternationalTradingCompanywhosestrategyincludespowerfulmarketingbasedontheoriginoftheMuzoname,withcutandpolishedemeraldsofferedtoluxurybrandsandthejewelryindustry.

InvestorsfromCanada,China,Russia,theU.S.andU.K.areenteringemeraldmininginZambia,MadagascarandColombia.AndAfghanistanisaddressingitsemeraldminingandmanufacturingsectorunderGIZ,WorldBankandUSAIDdevelopmentfunding.WiththearrivalinColombiaofGemfields,whichhasboughtalargeinterestintheCoscuezmineandsecuredlargeexplorationandminingrightsintheMuzoandQuipamaareas,thewholesectorischanging.WecanexpecttoseeproductionofColombianemeraldsrisedramaticallytoagainbecometheundisputedgloballeader.Governmentregulationsarealsochangingthepicture;inColombiatheapplicationoftheRUCOM,NationalMineralMandatoryregistrationnumber,andadditionaldecreestoenforcethetraceabilityandlegalityoftheinternalsupplychainprotectsbothnationalandinternationalmininginvestorsagainsttheftandunfaircompetitionfromillegalmining,whileundeclaredsourcesofmaterialarebecomingimpossibletoexportlegally.

Areemeraldsontheirwaytobecomingacommodity?Thefuturewilltell,butitiscertainthattheemeraldindustrywillneverbethesameagain.

Editor-in-Chief Jean Claude Michelou

WORLD EMERALD UPDATE

6 InColor ׀ December 2015 www.gemstone.org

OrganizedbyFedesmeraldas־theColombianEmeraldFederation(CEF)־ the three-day eventaddressedthemanychallengesandopportunitiesfacingtheindustry,alongwithheateddiscussionsonanumberoftopics,

includingonenotoftendiscussedinpublic.Participation and support came from the major

stakeholdersintheglobalemeraldtrade,includingtheColombiangovernment’sMinistryofMinesandEnergy,thenation’semerald-relatedbodies,andprivate,governmentalandtradedelegationsfromZambia,BrazilandAfghanistan.Representativesofthemajorinternationaltradeorganizationswerealsopresent,includingBenjaminHackman,ICApresident,GerryManning,AGTAvicepresident,RolandNaftule,CIBJOvicepresident,andOscarBaquero,Fedesmeraldaspresident.Manyoftheworld’smajorlaboratorieswerealsorepresentedincludingGIA,AIGS,Gubelin,GGTL,NGTCandLFG,amongothers.

Morethan200localattendeesand150internationalparticipantsjoinedthesymposium,includingspeakerswhonotonlyaddressedtheissuesrelatingtotheColombianemeraldtrade,butalsoemeraldminingandsalesaroundtheworld.Topicsincludedresourcemanagement,traceability,ethics,manufacturing,treatments,certification,nomenclature,technology,consumereducation,risks,security,marketingandbranding.

Foradetailedlistofthespeakersandtheirtopics,visittheofficialwebsite,worldemeraldsymposium.com.

Colombia Hosts the First International Emerald Symposium

The world’s first global symposium devoted to emeralds was held from October 13 to 15 in Bogotá, Colombia. It was the first time that producer countries have come together at a high-level global conference to discuss the issues relating to these precious green gems.

By Cynthia Unninayar

WORLD EMERALD UPDATE

InColor ׀ December 2015 7www.gemstone.org

Colombian Government’s PerspectiveAftertheopeningwelcomeceremonies,Colombia’sVice

MinisterofMines,Dr.MariaIsabelUlloa,providedbackgroundonthenation’sminingindustryingeneral,withspecificsontheemeraldsector.Shealsotalkedaboutthedifferenttypesofmines—large,medium,small,andsurvival—stressingthateachmustbetreateddifferently.Hermainpoint,however,dealtwiththeissueoftransparency.“Currently,some63percentofminingactivityiscarriedoutwithoutmeetinglegalrequirementsorpayingtaxes,”shesaid,explainingthatthe“maininterestsofthegovernmentintheminingsectoraretheorganizationandformalizationofthesector,theinclusivenessofminingasalinkbetweenproductivesectorsand,finally,competitivenessandefficiencyofthesector.”

Ulloaitemizedthefivepillarsofthegovernment’sminingpolicyaswellasthethree-doorapproachtoorganizeand

structurethesmall-scaleminingsectorinColombia(seesidebars).OneelementofthefivepillarsistraceabilityunderRUCOM(asystemoftheNationalMiningAgencyofColombia(ANM)thatregistersthemarketersofmineralsinthecountry).

Eachmineandmarketermusthavethisgovernmentcertification,detailingwherethegemsweremined.Ifacompanycannotprovetheprovenanceofitsminerals,thegemsmaybeseized.Apartofthiscertificationrelatestootherconsiderations,suchasabidingbycertainenvironmentalguidelinesandensuringthesafetyandsecurityofworkers.

“Weare facingdifficult times,”Ulloaadded. “TheColombianemeraldindustryhasreachedamilestoneandmustbeinclusiveandcompetitive.InternationalplayersarearrivingandraisingthebarforColombia.Wesupportthem,andouremeraldindustrymustadapttorigorousinternationalstandards.”

Some 200 attendees from Colombia and 150 overseas visitors participated in the Symposium. (Photo: CEF)