21-10-2019
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will invest US$ 1.3 million to expand its gem guide for artisanal miners to other African communities after a successful pilot in Tanzania, Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO announced at the International Coloured Gemstone Association (ICA) Congress in Bangkok last week.
In collaboration with Pact, the program aims to reach 10,000 miners in Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia over the next four years and share information on gemstone evaluation and sorting. Jacques described it as “a tremendous step forward in our efforts to bring information directly to artisanal miners right at the beginning of the gem and jewellery supply chain”.
GIA spent US$120,000 to provide Tanzanian women miners and small-scale rural miners in East Africa an illustrated booklet “Selecting Gem Rough: A Guide for Artisanal Miners” and training on basic gemological and market knowledge in 2017.
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