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34
MODERN MINING
April 2015
feature
COUNTRY FOCUS –
ZAMBIA
The high wall of the Chama
pit. The fourth pushback is
currently in progress.
invested heavily, has been obtained from
Caterpillar, via Barloworld Equipment Zambia,
and Bell Equipment and is very well main-
tained. Our labour force of around 600 is now
fully unionised, a development which we’ve
insisted on, and all eligible employees have
been placed on permanent and pensionable
terms. Salaries are going up and employees
have been granted a basic increment of 14 % for
2014-2015 with a further 14 % pre-negotiated
for 2015-2016. We’ve also made a concerted
effort to improve on health, environmental
and safety standards and, in fact, Kagem has
enjoyed an unblemished safety record since
we took over with not a single reportable
injury having occurred since we assumed full
operational responsibility in 2009. We’ve now
worked over 3 million injury-free shifts.”
Harebottle – who is South African born and
who was COO of the then TanzaniteOne tanza-
nite mine in Tanzania before joining Gemfields
– added that the mine had now also been
connected to the Zambian electrical grid via a
33 kV line which had cost Kagem US$0,6 mil-
lion to install.
Of course, improving production and low-
ering costs at Kagem is only one half of the
equation that Gemfields has had to solve since
entering the emerald market. “The other half
has been the marketing of the mine’s product,”
Harebottle told
Modern Mining
. “We are work-
ing hard at this with the objective of increasing
the demand for emeralds – which, incidentally,
are significantly rarer than diamonds – and
providing a consistent, professionally graded
supply of ‘responsibly sourced’ emeralds to
world markets.
“A major step forward in this direction was
taken in 2009 when we introduced a ground-
breaking, fully transparent emerald grading
and auction system. Today, we hold four auc-
tions a year of Kagem’s products, some in
Zambia and some overseas, and these have
been overwhelmingly successful. Indeed, at
our auction of predominantly higher-quality
rough emeralds held in November last year we
raised US$34,9 million at an average value of
US$65,89 per carat, which is a new record for
higher quality emerald auctions.” He added
that further elements of the strategy have
included the launch of a global emerald mar-
keting campaign in 2011 and the appointment
of American actress, Mila Kunis, as Gemfields’
global brand ambassador in 2013.
From the point of view of
Modern Mining
’s
readers, the more interesting side of the over-
all Kagem/Gemfields operation is the mining
and processing on site and this was explained
during our visit by Robert Gessner, Senior
Manager – Geology for Kagem Mining. A spe-
cialist in coloured gemstones (prior to joining
Kagem he was also at the tanzanite mine in
Tanzania), he said that the emerald and beryl
mineralisation on the Kagem property occurs
at the interface between two rock types – a
feldspar biotite rich pegmatite and a talc chlo-
rite magnetite schist (TMS).
“The pegmatites cross cut the TMS, form-
ing reaction zones which host the emerald and
beryl. These reaction zones, which can range
“Kagem has
enjoyed an
unblemished
safety record
since we took over
with not a single
reportable injury
having occurred
since we assumed
full operational
responsibility in
2009.”
Ian Harebottle,
CEO, Gemfields