IMAGE COURTESY OF GEMCLOUD GROUP
Kagem’s parent company, Gemfields invites partners to join “Gemdustry” and support online tech gateway GemCloud
Powering online coloured gemstone marketplaces and promoting transparency and trust in the industry.
LUFWANYAMA, ZAMBIA, 6 APRIL 2022
Gemfields, operator and 75% owner of Kagem, is pleased to announce the establishment of Gemdustry Limited as an industry-owned vehicle to back GemCloud, an exciting technology gateway that has the potential to play a central role in shaping the future of the coloured gemstone sector. Gemfields invites forward-thinking coloured gemstone industry participants of good standing to join Gemfields as partners in Gemdustry.
As a result of the establishment of Gemdustry, GemCloud Group gets one new (non-controlling) ‘anchor’ investor which is owned by a number of coloured gemstone industry participants. This structure allows GemCloud Group to retain its independence and neutrality while benefitting from industry backing, experience, and input in shaping this online coloured gemstone platform (theGemCloud.com) and marketplace for cut-and-polished coloured gemstones (Gemolith.com).
Gemfields believes that an independent, trusted online marketplace for cut and polished coloured gemstones, supported by a cross-section of coloured gemstone industry participants, is a logical step in the ongoing growth and development of the industry. At present, the coloured gemstone sector is still characterised by many vendors operating their own online sales platforms and offering their own inventory. This structure complicates the process for buyers who are forced to scour multiple websites. As many other industries have experienced, this “early stage” structure inevitably morphs over time toward an “aggregator” or “comparison” model which offers far greater inventory in a single platform and facilitates a smoother, more efficient process for buyers and sellers, leading to further sector growth.
GemCloud Group, founded in 2019, is a tech start-up in the coloured gemstone digitisation space that has developed an impressive cloud-based inventory management platform (theGemCloud.com) and an online B2B marketplace (Gemolith.com) transforming access for and to buyers and sellers, and vastly improving the speed and convenience with which they can transact, all in a reliable and vetted environment. On the Gemolith.com B2B marketplace, GemCloud acts as the counterparty to facilitate transactions and mitigate credit risk, allowing jewellers to buy in a vetted, secure environment.
A stand-out differentiating feature of the Gemolith.com B2B marketplace is the standardisation of imagery, videos and nomenclature for all gemstones, allowing gems to be directly compared onscreen using identical lighting conditions and scale settings. This is achieved via GemCloud’s partner laboratories, who use both identical technology and the GemCloud grading system to digitise, photograph, video, grade and certify the inventory. In addition, GemCloud’s regional offices provide supply chain and logistics facilitation, supporting buyers and sellers, and fulfilling gemstone sales (including shipping and logistics).
TheGemCloud.com offers users an exceptional inventory management system built specifically to solve the day-to-day challenges of the gemstone industry. GemCloud offers many features demanded from top-flight ERP systems such as inventory management, consignments, billing, traceable manufacturing and stock audits. Moreover, GemCloud offers an array of sales channels with which to better sell selected gemstone inventory including, for example:
- instantly creating interactive quotations that allow the user’s own customers to securely access data, imagery and certificates for the inventory, thereby facilitating privately concluded sales between the user and their customer;
- using GemCloud to power a feed of their own inventory on their own website or sales platform;
- opting to offer selected inventory on the Gemolith.com B2B marketplace, where buyers from around the world can find what they’re looking for in one convenient location.
As such, GemCloud offers unparalleled potential for gemstone vendors to organise, digitise and monetise their gemstone inventories.
For jewellery brands, designers, and manufacturers, Gemolith.com offers a curated B2B marketplace, including for responsibly sourced coloured gemstones from some of the most sought-after gemstone suppliers in the world. Multiple gemstone laboratory certificates can be uploaded for each gemstone. Additional tools allow gem buyers to filter for the parameters that matter most to them, such as their preferred gemstone laboratory, the country of origin (where known) or the mine of origin (where known). As such, GemCloud facilitates integrity and confidence in the coloured gemstone sector, in turn fostering industry growth.
“Gemfields is delighted to support GemCloud, an exciting platform for the coloured gemstone industry, boosting access to and for buyers and sellers. Parties interested in joining Gemdustry can play a role in shaping and contributing to what we hope will become the pivotal marketplace for coloured gemstones.” said Algy Strutt, Manager of New Projects at Gemfields.
“GemCloud believes that, in working closely with key industry participants, we will transform the way that coloured gemstones are bought and sold, spurring further growth for our industry. It is a natural evolution of innovation, and we strive to improve the industry and help businesses of all sizes to access and sell responsibly sourced coloured gemstones with competitive prices in a safe environment.” concludes Veronica Favoroso, CEO & Co-Founder of GemCloud.
Gemfields invites parties interested in joining Gemdustry to get in touch by contacting algy.strutt@gemfields.com
Download high resolution image here
-ENDS-
ENQUIRIES
| ENQUIRIES | Gillian Langmead Langmead & Baker Ltd Tel: +260 979 060705 info@langmead.com |
| HEAD OFFICE | Helena Choudhury Head of PR and Communications Tel: +44 (0)207 518 3420 / +44 (0)7493 237598 helena.choudhury@gemfields.com |
NOTES TO EDITORS
Kagem responsible sourcing highlights
- Kagem is committed to ensuring that the community continues to benefit positively from its operations through various sustainability programmes focused on alleviating poverty and aligned with government policies, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision 2030
- The mine has spent more than USD 2.8 million on community projects, including:
- Rehabilitation of the 18.7km road connecting Chief Nkana and Chief Lumpuma’s chiefdoms from Kandole to Kafwaya village in Lufwanyama district
- Construction of the Nkana Health Centre
- Construction and equipping of a new Chapula Secondary School
- Construction of new buildings at Chapula Primary School
- Building of teachers’ accommodation at Kapila Community School
- Support for the Blessing, Kapila Green Farms,Twende and Twasanta projects
- Improvements to Chief Nkana and Chief Lumpuma’s palaces
- Kagem’s USD 345,000 industry training initiative is sponsoring students from the geological and mining engineering departments at the School of Mines at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University (CBU) over a period of eight years.
- The 40 auctions of Kagem gemstones held since July 2009 have generated USD 792 million in total revenue.
- Kagem currently provides 1,150 direct jobs, with 94% of the workforce being local.
About Kagem Mining
Kagem Mining Ltd, based in Lufwanyama, is believed to be the world’s single largest producing emerald mine. Kagem is 75% owned by Gemfields, in a model partnership with the Zambian government.
Kagem aims to emulate the values of Gemfields and operate in a way that contributes positively to the national economy, while taking a leading role in modernising the coloured gemstone sector and building sustainable livelihoods for the communities around the mine. Kagem believes that coloured gemstones should be mined and marketed by championing three key values – transparency, legitimacy and integrity.
Gemfields is a world-leading miner of responsible coloured gemstones. In addition to Kagem, Gemfields is the operator and 75% owner of Montepuez Ruby Mining in Mozambique (at one of the most significant recently discovered ruby deposits in the world), as well as bulk sampling licences in Ethiopia, amongst others.
Gemfields has developed a proprietary grading system and a pioneering auction and trading platform to provide a consistent supply of coloured gemstones to the global jewellery market.
As well as supplying a significant share of the world’s rough rubies and emeralds, Gemfields initiates activations to build desire for coloured gemstones: for example, collaborations with international jewellery brands and other creative partners. Often surprising, unexpected and unique, these collaborations are chosen to promote consumer awareness and increase the appeal of coloured gemstones, raising their profile, and, in turn, providing greater benefit to their place of origin in Africa.
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