New crowdfunding initiative seeks to alleviate poverty and formalise the African mining sector

A new crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help create an online marketplace for small scale and artisan miners in Africa to sell coloured gemstones directly to international customers without submitting a huge cut of their profits to intermediaries.

Africa is rich in natural resources and gemstone mining has been the sole income for many communities for decades, but they are still at risk of poverty as third-party middle men take a large chunk of any gemstone sales leaving little for the miners.

Therefore, a crowdfunding campaign has been set up to help create an ethical sales channel free from the fees of intermediaries that connects miners and potential buyers so they see a greater return on the gemstones they mine.

The World Bank released a report in 2013 that stated that around 100 million people, both workers and their families, depend on an income from artisanal mining. Even though there is potential for high gain, small scale and artisan miners are marginalised and see a small fraction of the benefits that can be gain from mined stones due to the high amount of value lost in the supply chain.

One example of this is the ruby mining industry. A typical ruby is sold for £50 with polishing and cutting costs standing at £5. Marketing and supply chain costs per ruby are £10 with middlemen taking the lions share of £30. Therefore, the small-scale miner receives only £5 of the £50 gemstone value.

Jhonviere, Founder and CEO of the Marketplace for Small Scale Miners, said “The purpose of the campaign is to create a trusted channel so that African artisan miners can sell their gemstones directly to an international market and gain a fair payment for the stones that in turn will help alleviate poverty, support community development and encourage greater well-being.

This new process will help cut out the intermediaries that take a huge proportion of profit from their labours and will help the government with formalising the sector to better benefit these communities.”

With a heightened demand for coloured gemstones driven by the millennial market, a new method of connecting miners and customers is needed to help them achieve a better return for their labours.

Support is being sought from members of the public via a crowdfunding campaign to help create a marketplace for gems that will save consumers money, provide quality guarantees with secure transactions and also improve the lives of miners and their families.

In return for an investment that will help bring the new marketplace to fruition, supporters won’t only be helping to support artisan mining communities but will also receive incentives ranging from a personal thank you call, 50% discount on artisan mined gemstones once the market place is up and running or a boxset of five coloured gemstone amongst other perks.

To find out more about the Marketplace for Small Scale Miners crowdfunding campaign, visit: https://www.pozible.com/project/marketplace-for-small-scale-miners-1