By Diana S. Zimmerman

The largest rough emerald in the world. The costliest per carat emerald ever sold. The most saturated green colour with exceptional clarity and brilliance—all from a company with high safety and environmental standards.

Nestled within the rolling eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains in Colombia are the legendary emerald mines of Muzo. For over five centuries, this extraordinary repository has provided the world with spectacular stones, and today is no exception.

In November 2009, Muzo International, a branch of Texma Group, was awarded the exclusive rights to operate the mines. But this is no ordinary company. When it comes to Colombian emerald mining, Muzo International gives “green” a completely new definition. Not only does the company mine the stones, but they also cut and polish every gem—all with safety protocols and environmental initiatives that are, for the most part, unheard of in the gemstone industry.

A Culture of Care

In just two years, Muzo International has achieved the standards set by Colombian legislation for occupational safety, workers rights, and employee health—and not just for its own workers; the entire region is benefiting. Reforestation, improvedsanitary conditions, and public health campaigns with a focus on the control of tropical diseases (such as yellow fever, dengue, and leishmaniasis) through vaccination and increased awareness of risk factors, are all part of Muzo International’s charter.

The company’s goal is to “create an organizational culture committed to sustainable mining development, which can promote personal and business growth in a responsible framework for the individual, our community, and our environment.” Its commitment to create a “culture of care” is only one of the reasons why Muzo International is considered to be “a company by which all others are compared.” Another reason, of course, is its beautiful emeralds.

Exceptional Emeralds

Twelve years ago, the Fura Emerald—a 15,000-carat (2.270 kg) rough stone that is five times larger than the more famous Unguentarium in the Vienna Imperial Treasury—was discovered at Muzo. This past June, the Fura was put on display for the first time at the Minergemas fair in Bogota, Colombia. Muzo is also where the most valuable rough emerald in the world was found, based on its outstanding colour and brightness—the 2,000-carat Tena. Tena was named for a mythical queen from that region whose tears were said to have created the emeralds. Its estimated worth far exceeds that of the emerald brooch once owned by Russian Empress Catherine the Great that sold at auction in 2010 for $1,650,500.

But size isn’t everything at Muzo. Coming in a variety of sizes, its emeralds are prized for their quality, clarity, and ideal colour, which ranges from saturated green to a slightly bluish-green hue. One such stone, a magnificent 12.01-carat blue-green emerald, shattered the world record for carat price at the recent Sotheby’s auction in Geneva garnering $1,440,219 for an unheard of $119,000 per carat. Another exceptional Muzo emerald sold at Christies last year for $835,682. This 9.27-carat square-cut stone is highly transparent and free of any type of enhancement. The report from the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute, certifying its Colombian origin stated, “Natural emeralds from Colombia of this size, colour, and purity represent a great rarity and the described gemstone is thus a very exceptional treasure.”

Many other experts, including Sotheby’s, consider Muzo emeralds to be “the most desirable in the world.” The high qualityemeralds from the Muzo mine, which represent a large proportion of the gems extracted every year, come with their own certificate issued by a highly respected independent gemmological laboratory, authenticating that the stones are indeed from Muzo. The company’s zero resin/ polymer policy ensures that only nonpermanent oils are used to treat the stones, if necessary. No detrimental fillers are ever used.

Best Practices

Obviously proud of its facetted gems, Muzo International also takes pride in the fact that its cutting workshops in Bogota have obtained ISO 9001 certification.

This official recognition establishes a solid framework for a systematic approach of all internal processes in order to satisfy the expectations of its customers. The main points of the quality policy are: applying best practices, innovation, and technology; ensuring efficient process control; providing safe and reliable conditions in developing new activities; compliance with legal and contractual regulations in the performance of activities; constantly improving the quality of services; identifying opportunities; and implementing appropriate actions.

By controlling every aspect of emerald production, from the mines through the expert cutting and polishing, as well as the marketing of the finished stones to designers throughout the world, Muzo International not only maintains absolute control over the quality of its stones, but is also improving the quality of life for an entire region. In every way, Muzo International is a company that is going far beyond green.

www.muzoemerald.com