First International Emerald Symposium
Hosted by Fedesmeraldas, the Colombian Emerald Federation, the International Emerald Symposium was held October 13–15, 2015, in Bogotá. Approximately 350 participants attended sessions featuring Colombian and international speakers. The theme for the symposium was “Be Part of the Change,” and there was a strong emphasis on the future and a cooperative effort that would benefit the entire emerald industry. The speakers were from source, manufacturing,and consuming countries, representing all levels of the value chain.
Day one started with Colombian government officials. Maria Isabel Ulloa (Vice Minister of Mines) spoke on the transparency, traceability, and control of gem commerce. She emphasized the progress made and the need to further formalize Colombia’s emerald industry. This issue was addressed by several others during the symposium, including Javier Octavio Garcia Granados (Agencia Nacional de Mineria, ANM). Santiago Angel (Asociación Colombiana de Minería, ACM) spoke on Colombia’s over-all mining outlook, including emerald, and emphasized that the country welcomes foreign investment and partnerships in mining.
In addition to the Colombian government officials from the opening presentations, Christopher B. Yaluma (Zambian Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development) described how Zambia steered its emerald industry toward formalization and outlined the ensuing benefits in tax revenue and consistent supply.
The next group of speakers represented trade organizations, including Oscar Basquero (Fedesmeraldas), Gerry Manning (American Gem Trade Association, AGTA), Benjamin Hackman (International Colored Gemstone Association, ICA), and Roland Naftule (World Jewellery Confederation, CIBJO). These presentations demonstrated the benefits trade organizations can provide in trading, networking, and addressing issues such as transparency and disclosure through their guidelines.
The afternoon session was devoted to laboratory officials. Shane McClure (GIA) spoke on the need for harmonization between laboratories regarding protocols and wording in reports. Dietmar Schwarz (Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences) and Carlos Julio Cedeño (CDTEC Gemlab, Bogotá; figure 1) discussed origin determination of emerald. Dr. Schwarz examined overall geographic determination, while Dr. Cedeño focused on the parameters to identify Colombian origin and specific locality. Also from CDTEC, Darwin Fortaleche presented information regarding a new enhancement process for natural emerald, currently under development in Colombia, that is expected to become a viable alternative to oil and polymer resin treatment.
In the second morning session, Philippe Scordia (Christian Dior Jewellery) offered insight into luxury jewelry brands and their criteria for gemstones. His talk included quality considerations in selecting gemstones for jewelry as well as corporate transparency and ethical sourcing and standards for selecting suppliers. Next were presentations on corporate social responsibility and traceability. Charles Burgess (Mineria Texas Colombia) discussed MTC’s policies on transparency, including tracking rough, employee benefits (with approximately 500 locals employed), and corporate taxes paid.
ICA’s Jean Claude Michelou, who served as the international coordinator of the symposium, presented the initiatives by the United Nations, governments, and non-government organizations to improve colored gemstone traceability throughout the value chain. He emphasized that 80% of colored gemstone production comes from small-scale and informal mining (figure 2) and stressed the importance of transparency to this sector in ensuring consumer confidence. This portion of the symposium was followed by a spirited discussion of the need for changes in the colored gemstone supply chain, including the role of large, well-funded corporations and traditional small-scale local miners as well as the issue of theft at the mines. Overall security improvements in Colombian mining areas were confirmed by a GIA field gemology team that traveled to the major sites after the symposium.
After lunch, the speakers included Gaston Giuliani (Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse) who gave an impassioned presentation on emerald deposits from around the world and their geological differences. Marcelo Ribeiro (Belmont Group) overviewed the investment in exploration, mining, and processing at the Belmont mine in Itabira, Brazil. Mr. Ribeiro addressed the use of optical sorters in processing rough as well as the move up the value chain into cutting rough. Representing manufacturing in a global hub, Vijay Kedia (Jewellers Association of Jaipur) discussed how emeralds from all over the world come to Jaipur for cutting and trading.
The beginning of day three emphasized branding and education, featuring talks by David Lightle (Wright Brothers), Gabriel Angarita (Colombian Association of Emerald Exporters, ACODES), and Andrew Lucas (GIA). Mr. Lightle examined the potential of the “Mother Gem” brand for Colombian emerald, citing the success of branding Colombian coffee. He also noted the need to overcome Colombia’s negative associations with drugs and violence. Mr. Angarita described the role of ACODES and the industry’s efforts to brand and promote Colombian emerald. Mr. Lucas displayed articles and documentaries from GIA’s website that are designed to educate the public about colored gemstones from mine to market.
Of great interest to the symposium was the presentation by Sean Gilbertson (Gemfields) on the company’s mining operations in Zambia and Mozambique as well as their social responsibility and transparency programs. This talk was set against the backdrop of Gemfields’ purchase of 70% of mining in Cosquez, and their acquisition of mining concessions totaling 20,000 hectares in the Muzo and Quipama areas. Later in the day, Adolf Peretti (Gem Research Swisslab, GRS) discussed color terminology as a communication and marketing tool. Dr. Peretti presented “Muzo green” as a color term on laboratory grading reports, sparking a lively panel debate regarding that and other grading terms, including the use of Minor, Moderate, and Significant for treatment classification.
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