De Beers, which is currently conducting diamond exploration in Angola, has pledged to offer the southern African country its Tracr technology at zero profit.
This was revealed by the group chief executive, Al Cook, at the second Angola International Diamond Conference in Saurimo on Wednesday.
Tracr is a cutting-edge diamond traceability platform that makes it possible to track a diamond's journey from source to store.
De Beers launched Tracr in 2018, and it was named by Forbes as one of the world’s 50 leading blockchain solutions in both 2020 and 2022.
It was opened up to the wider diamond industry in 2023 to support the industry’s ability to provide source assurance for natural diamonds at scale.
De Beers is now registering more than two-thirds of its diamond production by value on Tracr at the point of source, and a growing number of leading businesses have also joined the platform as Tracr continues to develop a solution that enables participants to provide consumers with enhanced confidence in their diamond’s journey.
The group recently said that it will provide data on the country of origin for all De Beers-sourced rough diamonds above 1.25 carats that are newly registered on the Tracr platform.
It said this will be extended to rough diamonds above 1 carat in size (equivalent to approximately 0.5 carats and above in polished form) from the start of 2025, thereby aligning with the size threshold for new diamond import requirements for G7 countries.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished from Saurimo, Angola
