World Of Gems Conference 2017 Proceedings Book

FIGURE 1. Flow chart of community project. WORLD OF GEMS CONFERENCE V - 45 - SEPTEMBER 2017 R ural students attend schools located in a natural setting providing the opportunity to encounter different coloured stones on a daily basis. Through this project we envisaged to reach many rural school communities with support and to educate local populations about the coloured stones available in the area. The preliminary guide materials and stories focus on reli- able facts for responsible mining, safety issues, and environment and value additions. Stories use locally available commodities (e.g., coffee, wheat, teff, etc.) and show the stages of the value chains. Of these, some use recent discoveries of sap- phires and emeralds and the market shift from artisanal mining of gold to gems; and success and challenges in transforming the seed money for sustainable economic generations. We are able to reach about 700 schools and more than 600 samples of coloured stones were brought by the students. With screening of the samples, about 10 gem-quality stones are identified, field verifica- tions and a comprehensive data- base is under construction. Gaps in basic skills and technologies, unreg- ulated market and lack of instru- ments for conducting gemmological studies remain critical. u SOURCING COLOURED STONES USING SCHOOLS IN RURAL PARTS OF ETHIOPIA Girma Woldetinsae and R & DTeam Research and Development Directorate, Ministry of Mines, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Ethiopia SOURCING COLOURED STONES POSTER ABSTRACT PHOTO 1. Local people in rural Ethiopia are trained by the government.

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