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Socially conscious issues are impacting the diamond trade. Gems from conflict free mines are of premiere importance in the diamond industry. Montana has that in spades!
Gem Certification & Assurance Lab Inc., a New York-based firm that authenticates and grades diamonds, is taking Canadia’s Kimberly System identification system one step further. It’s proposing to distributors to use its Gemprint technology to take what it calls a diamond’s unique fingerprint. This fingerprint will be incorporated into a document called the Source Veritas Passport that will accompany the diamond through to its point of purchase and serve as a lifetime guarantee that the stone did not come from a country involved in civil war. Gem Certification has developed a new system.
De Beers LV, a diamond retailer established in 2001 in a joint venture between diamond mining and marketing company De Beers SA and luxury conglomerate LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is also putting its brand promise in writing in a passport form. Its passport states that De Beers diamonds are mined from areas that aren’t in conflict and that don’t exploit child labor. The passport will launch worldwide next month and will accompany any diamond purchase.
“What De Beers wants to do is help the legitimate diamond industry,” said Joan Parker, global communications director for De Beers LV. “There has been so much focus on the bad that diamonds can do, but there has been little focus on the good that diamonds can do. Places like Botswana in Africa have a whole economy that is supported by the diamond industry, including HIV treatments and the building of schools, and if buyers take the business away from Africa, a lot of people there and in other areas like this will suffer. There is a whole other side to the story and we hope the passports will help to open up a dialogue.”
Michael J. Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co., said: “Coming to understand what the issues were when reports first started [coming out of Africa] was a slow evolution. We had such limited exposure to diamond mining then and we didn’t know at first what we could do to change the situation. We added our voice to other concerned retailers and were among the very first companies to support and help work through the Kimberley Process. Meanwhile, that coupled with another ethical issue that came about in the mid-Nineties when we helped to halt the construction of a gold mine that was going to threaten Yellowstone National Park, had raised our awareness about the question of the integrity of our supply chain.”
Tiffany first invested in a Aber Diamond Corp., which owns a diamond mine in Canada, and now has begun working directly with cutting and polishing facilities. It also refuses to use coral extracted from natural beds in its pieces so as not to disrupt the environment.
“We took a step back five years ago in thinking about this issue and part of the Tiffany brand promise is that our customers absolutely expect the precious materials – whether it’s gemstones or metals – that are used in our products are in fact extracted, processed and manufactured in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible,” said Kowalski. “Because of our scale and because we manufacture the majority of the product we sell, moving back was not as big a challenge for us as it might be for others.”
Cartier also wants to stand behind its brand promise of product excellence, so in response to concerns about issues facing the business it has become a founding member of the Council for Responsible Jewelery Practices. The year-old organization, according to Frdric de Narp, Cartier’s North American President and CEO, will study the complex diamond and gold supply chain and isolate ethical, social, human rights and environmental issues that its members can work to address.
“We want to ensure the entire industry is working together toward a shared goal,” said de Narp. “Everybody is more sensible now and a large number of trade associations are playing a crucial role in engaging its members on these issues.”
While most experts agree the industry has put a mammoth effort forward to make the Kimberley Process work and regulate the annual production of some $11 billion in rough diamonds, some feel more can still be done. They say movies like “The Blood Diamond” can only help to maintain the discussion regarding the issue.
“The Kimberley Process is working, but it’s not over,” said Ian Smillie, research coordinator for Partnership Africa Canada, an Ottawa, Canada-based nongovernmental organization.
While the civil war in Sierra Leone has ended and the country is now a part of the Kimberley Process, along with some 44 countries worldwide, Smillie said the United Nations Security Council has just put a ban on diamond exports from the Ivory Coast. The Democratic Republic of Congo also continues to be a problem. Liberia, which has been under an embargo since 2000, now has a new government and they are working to have the embargo lifted.
“In the mid-Nineties, we estimated about 15 percent of the rough diamond industry involved conflict diamonds,” said Smillie. “Now, we say it’s only four percent and the reality is that it’s likely even closer to one percent. But one percent can still fund a lot of guns. If you think about it, diamonds are the most concentrated form of wealth in the world. You could put $1 million worth of diamonds in somebody’s shirt pocket. But we are getting the industry to work on this issue without having to push too hard. They want to fix it and they see that there are positive things that can be done. This can turn into a good-news story.”
Corinna Gilfillan, a lead campaigner of Global Witness, an NGO based in the U.K., said although a recent poll the organization saw said that only 20 to 25 percent of consumers know about ethical issues surrounding jewelry, it’s still a sizable amount and will only increase.
“Those brands that are taking that extra step and are able to give consumers a lot of information and assurances on where their products are coming from will have a big payoff,” she added. Braunwort of the American Gem Association predicts the industry will be completely different even three years from now as a result of this.
“This industry is at the peak of the luxury chain and we should be held to a higher standard,” said Braunwort. “If we are producing a product that isn’t critically necessary to everybody in the world, we should be producing that product in the most beautiful manner possible.”
Delta Mining and Exploration received a report on the samples processed from their Montana target. The micro-probe analysis to determine kimberlite provenance and/or specific mineral chemistry was positive. Link here for report.
Stay tuned: There is so much to tell about this exciting prospect that Stock Guru will be checking in several times a day on this company so you can learn about their advantages in their quest for a U.S. diamond mine!
Source: Delta Mining and Exploration and Fairchild Publications, Inc.
Contact: Alex Livak
Investor Relations
242 Kings Rd.
Lewisburg, Kentuc 42256
Tel: 347-813-4664
Em: info@deltamine.com
Delta Mining
242 Kings Rd.
Lewisburg, KY 42256
USA
Website: http://www.deltamine.com
Phone: 347-813-4664
About Delta Mining and Exploration, Corp: http://www.deltamine.com: Delta is a mineral exploration company with an extensive portfolio of diamond properties in Montana. Delta controls some 8000 acres throughout Montana located within the Wyoming Craton where much of North America’s diamonds have been found and has completed two phases of exploration work.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words “plan,” “confident that,” “believe,” “scheduled,” “expect,” or “intend to,” and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to complete the planned bridge financing, market conditions, the general acceptance of the Company’s products and technologies, competitive factors, timing, and other risks described in the Company’s SEC reports and filings.
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