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Building programme to advance ASM standards in West Africa! Partnering with GIZ and Mano River Union to deliver training on Mining standards in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast! GemFair, a De Beers Group initiative to advance the artisanal and small-scale diamond mining (ASM) sector, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Deutsche Gesellschaftfür für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Mano River Union (MRU) to develop and deliver a capacity building programme in the MRU member countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast to enhance practices in the ASM sector. The three parties will jointly deliver a regional training programme that aims to enhance capacities, promote knowledge sharing and build a comprehensive understanding of mine site health and safety, environmental management, ethical sourcing standards and diamond valuation among participants, who will include miners, government officials and civil society a...

Gemfair to create for Artisanal and small-scale miners Pilot scales up Operations on the ground GemFair, a pilot project developed by De Beers Group, that aims to create a secure and transparent route to market for ethically sourced artisanal and small-scale mined (ASM) diamonds, is scaling up its operations in Sierra Leone to give more miners the opportunity to benefit from the opportunities the programme offers. The GemFair pilot provides ASM diamond miners with access to De Beers Group’s industry leading distribution channel, while seeking to improve ethical standards, working conditions and value for miners within the sector. GemFair has partnered with the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), an NGO that has been instrumental in helping to formalise the diamond ASM sector in Africa. Following the launch of the pilot, where GemFair worked with 16 mine sites in Sierra Leone, the pilot has been extended in the past six months to work with a further 38 sites...