Can Blood Emeralds Exist?

After the movie Blood Diamond and news reports about the Taliban taking over the emerald mines of the Swat Valley of Pakistan many are asking what are the conditions like in Colombia. Emeralds from Colombia are not mined by forced labor so there is no such thing as a blood emerald from Colombia. Colombia is the oldest democracy in South America and has been a strong ally of the United States for many decades. Much like in the US the emerald mines are owned by multiple large corporations who hire miners at market wages.

There are a number of guaqueiros that work the tailings outside of the emerald mines and independent miners also work smaller prospects. Most of the emerald rough ends up in Bogota and is sold as individual pieces or whole parcels. A large open market exists in downtown Bogota where emerald rough is sold and traded. Once the rough is acquired the work of the cutters begin as they transform the rough emeralds into cut loose emerald. Many of the cutters are individual business owners although some larger cutting houses exist as well.

Once the emeralds are cut they are sold by the parcel or individually to Colombian jewelers, foreign buyers, or an emerald dealer. Many people are also employed as brokers trading emeralds on the street or in offices and take a small cut for their services. Basically their job is matching buyers with sellers and then communicating the negotiation between the two. As you can see there is a very large industry that surrounds the emerald trade in Colombia but nothing remotely close to the blood diamond situation exists in Colombia. Colombians emeralds are conflict free and profits from the emerald industry do not support war efforts.