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Gemstone Supply Chain Action Scheme

The purpose of the Gemstone Supply Chain Action Scheme is to have the gemstone sector give immediate financial support to Artisanal Small Scale Miners who are unable to sell and mine their gemstones during the pandemic. The supply chain has come to a halt and the ASM communities cannot survive unless we keep the supply chain in motion. The Gemstone Supply Chain Action Scheme aims to facilitate a platform that unites gem professionals and jewelers who want to help the ASM miners who they source from.

All actors across the jewelry industry are currently facing hard times, yet we all want to do what we can to help those in need. We who make a living in finished jewelry may want to contribute our financial resources in a myriad of well deserved areas. Yet we must not forget about those whose sweat and toil delivers the metals and stones which has afforded us a living.

The scheme entails existing gemstone markets and provisional gemstone markets to generate immediate humanitarian financial aid to vulnerable Artisanal Small Scale Miners.

Gem dealers who have an existing supply chain are encouraged to sign on with a pledge of 20% or more of gem sales to go directly down the supply chain to the miners.

Participants

Contact us to join the Responsible Gemstone Buyers Group (RGBG) and purchase rough gemstones directly from the Federation of Small Scale Mining Associations of Zambia (FESSMAZ).  20% of the proceeds are given back to the mining community through food drives that the Federation members will carry out. The gemstones can be custom cut in Zambia by, Inonge Zita who employs women gem cutters.The image shown illustrates the quality material and cutting from this project.  Citrine, tourmaline, garnet, amethyst and aquamarine are just some of the gems being offered. The project is a collaboration between FESSMAZ, AGEC Africa, The Nomad Jeweler, Inonge Zita and the Responsible Jewelry Transformative.

20% to 45% of gem sales go directly to our community in Brazil where we mine smoky and rutilated quartz. The Mayor and Secretary of Health are supporting this action as the majority of funds buy protective dust masks for the miners. With the current crisis, funds will also be directed to the elderly in need of immediate food security.

The ASM region supports a population of about 15,000, in the region of Novo Horizonte. There are many miners still working out of necessity while many have left. We can help ASM communities through this transformative time and guide sustainability into the fabric of our businesses.

The Tanzanian gemstone markets are closed and without gems sales, many people in mining communities are facing starvation. ANZA Gems has teamed up with Gem Legacy to get food directly to the Tanzanian Women’s Mining Association and the mining community. MOYO will donate 20% or more of the sale of each gemstone to give immediate humanitarian aid in Tanzania. The gems shown are from Monica Stephenson of the US Market. For UK and Europe contact Stuart Pool of Nineteen48.

Nineteen48 built charitable donations into its business model and allocates 25% of its net profits to support good causes and charitable projects in the countries from which it sources many of its gemstones. They have already provided some funds specifically for use in Sri Lanka with the Rosie May Foundation to alleviate the effects of the pandemic and are assessing how best to make other donations. Nineteen48 hopes that their mining teams in Sri Lanka are able to restart operations soon and they are doing their best to ensure that they are able to do so as soon as the situation permits.

The Navajo Nation is currently the third hardest-hit area per capita, after New York and New Jersey. The Navajo people are facing 70% unemployment. They are fighting this disease with only a 24-bed hospital, and minimal access to respirators. Due to the unemployment rate, the people are having a hard time providing food for themselves, let alone the animals on the Reservation.

So what are we doing? We are donating what we can, currently cash and disposable face masks, with our Navajo partners, to purchase food for their people and their animals.

CGH will donate 20% of all Anthill garnet sales in the month of May to the Navajo Nation, in the form of additional masks and cash for food supplies. So you can help by purchasing one of these incredible red garnets that are hand gathered only on the Navajo Nation lands. These lands are in Arizona, and the four corners area of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.