With just a month to go to the start of the International Emerald Symposium in Colombia, excitement is mounting, particularly in light of recent developments in the country’s emerald sector. The inaugural conference, organized by Fedesmeraldas, the Colombian Emerald Federation, and supported by all the country’s emerald-related bodies and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, will take place from October 13 to 15 in Bogotá.
The conference, to be attended by government and industry representatives from across the globe, and the largest such meeting dedicated to the emerald sector, has become even more important after leading colored gemstone miner Gemfields announced just last week that it has signed agreements to give it controlling stakes in two Colombian emerald projects. This latest development puts the spotlight firmly on the country’s vital role as an emerald producer.
“We are really thrilled that we will soon be part of the growth of the emerald producing sector in Colombia,” said Gemfields CEO Ian Harebottle. The Gemfields projects are in the Boyaca region in the east of the country where emerald producer Muzo International operates and has been recently building up its emerald production with some recent reports of large finds, while there are also many other developments in the country’s emerald mining and producing industry.
Ministers and officials from the world’s main emerald producing states - Colombia, Zambia, Brazil and Afghanistan - will be attending the Symposium and will address the challenges and opportunities faced by the emerald industry including resource management, mining, manufacturing, treatments, certification, nomenclature, technology, consumer education and branding.
It will be the first time that producer countries have come together at a high-level international gathering to address issues relating to the emerald business in the same way that diamond industry representatives have done in the past for their trade. Organizers expect the conference to lead to a harmonization of the global emerald industry along the lines of that achieved by the global diamond business at a time when demand for emeralds worldwide is strong.
Many prominent members of the international precious gemstone industry will be taking part in the symposium. These include ICA President Benjamin Hackman, Gemfields’ Executive Director Sean Gilbertson who will present on Gemfields: Rediscovering the Coloured Gemstone Sector, Zambia’s Minister of Mines, the Honourable Christopher B. Yaluma, and CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, Clarissa Maciel from IBGM,as well as representatives from the GIA, Gubelin and AGTA, and delegates from the gemstone and emerald sector of Jaipur in India.
