De Beers is working with the Angolan government to introduce GemFair to help formalise artisanal diamond mining in the southern African country.
This was revealed by the group chief executive Al Cook when he addressed the Angola Mining Business Forum held at the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town on Tuesday.
“We are proud that the GemFair team is working to raise the standards of diamond mining in Angola,” he said.
Cook said Angola and Sierra Leone had been exchanging notes on the implementation of GemFair.
The programme was first launched in the Kono region of Sierra Leone, where it continues to operate today, due to the enabling environment that has been created for artisanal and small-scale diamond mining as a result of positive reforms following the civil conflict that ended in the country more than two decades ago.
GemFair has also introduced a programme to reclaim mine sites once mining has ended to aid in improving safety and environmental management practices within the sector.
It has since 2020 reclaimed 12 formerly abandoned mine pits.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief, from Cape Town, South Africa, Rough&Polished
