{"id":665560,"date":"2018-04-23T16:53:20","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T16:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=665560"},"modified":"2018-04-23T16:53:20","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T16:53:20","slug":"gemfields-talks-up-responsibility-amid-lawsuit-over-alleged-human-rights-abuses-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=665560","title":{"rendered":"Gemfields talks up \u2018responsibility\u2019 amid lawsuit over alleged human rights abuses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gemfields<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Precious gemstones miner Gemfields is stepping up efforts to increase transparency across the entire supply chain amid fresh allegations of human rights abuses at its Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique, which has cost it a lawsuit filed last week in London’s High Court.<\/p>\n

Leigh Day, the London-based law firm representing over 100 locals, said security forces employed by the miner \u2014 which describes itself as \u201ca leading supplier of responsibly sourced coloured gemstones\u201d \u2014 shot, beat and subjected to humiliating treatment and sexual abuse to its clients.<\/p>\n

It also said the claimants, which include family members representing four people who were killed, were unlawfully detained and forced to carry out menial labour.<\/p>\n

The world’s top coloured gems producer is adopting a new technology to further drive transparency in the sector.<\/p>\n

Together with denying such accusations, Gemfields, which publicly opposes to any form of violence or abuse, is trying hard to get some sparkles back into its name.<\/p>\n

The UK miner, the world’s top coloured gems producer accounting for roughly a third of the global supply of emeralds and rubies, is adopting a new technology to further drive transparency in the gemstone industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coloured gemstone industry is ancient, and perhaps as a result, is often viewed as fragmented and opaque,\u201d Jack Cunningham, Head of Sustainability at Gemfields, told MINING.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany individuals have benefited at the expense of others; with expert knowledge, the buyers and traders in particular were \u2014 and still are \u2014 in a very strong position to defend their positions in the industry without anyone, up or down the supply chain, being able to challenge them,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n

That’s why Gemfields is incorporating a synthetic nano-technology, which acts as \u201cthe DNA\u201d of a stone, as it provides information on the location a particular emerald or ruby was mined, when and who the owner is.<\/p>\n

Communities first<\/p>\n

Gemfields is also working on other fronts to keep its corporate image clean. Before starting any full-scale mining operations, for instance, it engages with the relevant authorities to carry out environmental impact assessments and engages with the communities.<\/p>\n

The miner claims its approach is based on balancing what it takes out with \u201cthe need and desire to put something back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham said the company, which owns the luxury Faberg\u00e9 jewellery brand, is open about how much it invests in the communities near to its mines, disclosing the exact figures. \u201cWe also set aside a portion of our revenue exclusively for community investment and biodiversity protection, and this approach is replicated at each of our operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about how Gemfields measures success, the executive said the firm aims at to be recognised for its achievements on the ground \u2014 \u201cnumber of children accessing primary education, patient visiting clinics, increased yields and income generated by the farmers and, of course, the number of local people we employ directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham also noted that the salaries of Montepuez mine’s unionized workers are above the national and industry average. This year, the company expects to train about 600 community members to build a resettlement village for \u2026read more<\/a> <\/p>\n

Source:: Infomine<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Gemfields talks up \u2018responsibility’ amid lawsuit over alleged human rights abuses<\/a><\/a> appeared first on Junior Mining Analyst<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Precious gemstones miner Gemfields is stepping up efforts to increase transparency across the entire supply chain amid fresh allegations of human rights abuses at its Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique, which has cost it a lawsuit filed last week in London’s High Court. Leigh Day, the London-based law firm representing over 100 locals, said security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=665560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665560\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=665560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=665560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=665560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}