Daily Management Review

Blockchain Enables De Beers To Track Diamond From The Miner To The Retailer


05/10/2018


Shared database transaction of blockchain opens new doors for diamond industry to practice new and innovative form of “asset-traceability”.



De Beers of Anglo-America reported that it managed to track “100 high-value diamonds”, right from the “miner” to the retailer with the help of blockchain. This marks a first of a kind effort for clearing the “supply chain of imposters and conflict minerals”, reported Reuters.
 
The biggest producer of diamond in the world given its gems’ value has been pioneering with its efforts throughout the industry to push for verification of the “authenticity of diamonds” in order to ensure their source being outside of the “conflict zones” wherein gems get used for financing violence. A statement of De Beers reads:
“An immutable and secure digital trail was created for a selection of rough diamonds mined by De Beers as they moved from the mine to cutter and polisher, then through to a jeweller”.
 
Five other diamond producers came together with De Beers to design the blockchain facility which has been named as Tracr, while the reports inform that by the end of the year, Tracr will be launched in the industry. Here are the names of the partners of De Beers involved in the pilot project, as mentioned by Reuters:
“Diacore, Diarough, KGK Group, Rosy Blue NV and Venus Jewel”.
 
The pilot initiative began in the month of January, wherein it initially dealt with “larger stones”. In the words of the chief executive officer of De Beers, Bruce Cleaver:
“The Tracr project team has demonstrated that it can successfully track a diamond through the value chain, providing asset-traceability assurance in a way that was not possible before”.
 
References:
reuters.com