After the movie Blood Diamond and press releases about the Taliban taking control of the emerald mines of the Swat River Valley of Pakistan many are asking what are the political 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 United States’ strongest ally in South America and has a long history of democracy. The emerald mines are owned by a number of large corporations that hire miners to work the mines. This is very similar to the mining industry in the USA.

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 large parcels or individual emerald crystals. 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 in business for themselves 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. The job of the broker is to negotiate sales between the seller and the buyer. 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. Besides being green, Colombian emeralds are also conflict-free gemstones.

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