Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Tanzanite Gemstone: Changing the future of Tanzania’s small miners

This article is by

Share this article

Article Contributor(s)

Nikhita Gautam

Article Title

Tanzanite Gemstone: Changing the future of Tanzania’s small miners

Publisher

Global Views 360

Publication Date

July 28, 2020

URL

Miner Saniniu Laizer with the tanzanite gemstones

Miner Saniniu Laizer with the tanzanite gemstones | Source: Tanzanian government

A beautiful gemstone with a wide range of colours, from light to dark hues of blue and violet, found only in a patch 4 kilometres long and two kilometres wide at the foot of mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Existing supply of these gems would run out in about 20 years and finding it in any other region has the probability of just one in a million. Tiffany & Co, the American jewelry manufacturer, described it as “the most important gemstone discovery in over 2000 years”. Yes, we are talking about Tanzanite, the pride of Tanzania.

This rare gemstone was in news recently when a small time miner, Saniniu Laizer found two large weighing 9.27 and 5.103 kgs which are the two largest tanzanite gemstones ever found. This discovery turned the miner millionaire overnight as those pieces were sold at about 3.35 USD. He was congratulated on live television by President John Magufuli, who himself was elected in 2015 with the promise of preservation of the nation’s interest in the mining industry. Mr Laizer’s mining operation includes more than 200 miners and he intends to use the money for the development of a school and a shopping mall near his home.

In order to promote the industry, many reforms were undertaken by the  government of Tanzania. It started taking a 50% equity in all mining projects after 2010 and banned the export of large sized raw gemstones. A fence was also built  in 2018 around the whole area where Tanzanite is mined but about 40% are siphoned without paying any royalty to the government.

However the discovery of such gemstones by a small miner was made possible due to the government policy of promoting local artisanal miners. In order to foster local ownership, the government gave the land and exclusive mining rights to the artisanal miners who mostly owned small and medium establishments. Many trading centres were established by the government in 2019  to facilitate these miners sell gems and gold directly to the government and earn better revenue.

Such discoveries sound promising for the industry in the light of how extensively they are promoted, and how many effective actions the government has taken to protect the industry. This also acts as a big morale booster for the small miners to redouble their efforts and search for the gemstones more vigorously.

Support us to bring the world closer

To keep our content accessible we don't charge anything from our readers and rely on donations to continue working. Your support is critical in keeping Global Views 360 independent and helps us to present a well-rounded world view on different international issues for you. Every contribution, however big or small, is valuable for us to keep on delivering in future as well.

Support Us

Share this article

Read More

February 4, 2021 4:49 PM

Paradise for wildlife created on a private land in India

Amidst the horror filled reports and anecdotes making it to the news bulletin in 2020, a wonderful story of altruism emerges from Rajasthan, India. Complete lockdowns followed by nations might have brought down our productivity and economy but it gave nature a chance to heal from the torments it faced due to us humans. However, Aditya and Poonam Singh, a couple from Rajasthan lent the environment a helping hand in speeding up the process of bringing biodiversity back to life.

The couple moved to Sawai Madhopur, a city in Rajasthan near Ranthambore Tiger reserve, in 1998. It was his passionate love for nature that made Aditya quit his prestigious Civil services job, give up the comfortable city life of New Delhi and shift to Rajasthan. In fact, his wife, Poonam was the one who suggested they move since both of them fell in love with Ranthambore when they first visited the National Park. “My first sighting was a tigress with three cubs on a hill. It was magical. At the end of the trip, I just asked him if we can move to Ranthambore. He wanted it too and within months we moved” says an ecstatic Poonam Singh.

After moving, they started a tourist resort as a means of earning their daily bread. Gradually, Mr. Aditya started purchasing the barren agricultural fields around Ranthambore Tiger reserve (RTR), an area known as Bhadlav (now Bhadlao). These fields would often be visited by predators like tigers, had no access to good roads or electricity, and were not being used extensively for farming. Due to such dangerous circumstances Mr. Singh got  fields at a cheap price from the owners who wanted to sell and move out.

Mr Singh left these plots of land for a long time to the mercy of nature and they soon grew into plush mini forests with two natural water holes. He also constructed a few artificial water holes for the animals visiting the area during summer heat. “I just bought this and did nothing to it except removing the invasive species. We allowed the land to recover and now after 20 years it has become a lush green patch of forest which is frequently visited by all kinds of animals, including tigers, leopards and wild boars, throughout the year,” says Singh.

These mini forests provide shelter and protection to those sub-adult tigers which are driven towards the edges of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Additionally, the couple is also working towards building a homestay for tourists which will be powered by renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. Mr. Singh’s beautiful story of their 40 acres huge sanctuary was shared to the public by The World Economic Forum via twitter and his efforts were highly lauded by millions of people.

The once barren fields which are now lush green forest have seen tremendous growth in commercial value. Mr Singh is regularly approached by suiters for sales or joint development of this area however he has never entertained these proposals. He says..  “Money was never the consideration. It is just about my love for nature and wildlife” Such unselfish acts are indeed rare in today’s times. Aditya and Poonam Singh are indeed a prime example of late Mahatma Gandhi’s saying ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’.

Read More