Global diamond mining firm De Beers has launched a proprietary blockchain-powered platform to manage the production and distribution of its diamonds.
The firm has long been working on a blockchain system to trace, record and manage the mining, production and distribution of its diamonds around the world. The Tracr platform was first tested and tested back in 2018, and the company has finally released the platform in a big way to serve the wider diamond mining industry.
De Beers has already incorporated this system into its global operations and estimates that 25 percent of its diamond production by value for the first three locations of 2022 is registered on Tracr. In the diamond industry, a site is a collective term for a sales event and lots of related diamonds for purchase.
The platform will provide diamond industry producers and retailers with access to tamper-proof records of diamond origins. Siteholders, companies that are authorized wholesale buyers of rough diamonds, will benefit from an irrevocable record of the diamond’s creditworthiness, which, in turn, will provide retailers with additional assurance of the diamond’s pedigree and origin.
De Beers has touted the stage performance to be able to meet periods of high production. Tracr will be able to register up to one million diamonds per week on the platform, a major upgrade to centralized platforms that have been criticized for struggling with large amounts of data that have historically created bottlenecks in the process. Huh.
Like many blockchain-powered systems, Tracr will allow companies and users to control permission, use and access to diamond data. This goes all the way down to an individual level, with each user being given their own distributed version of the platform, much like traditional node operators in other blockchain networks.
Privacy and security are paramount to the ongoing operations of the diamond industry. Tracr’s blockchain-based system also ensures that every transaction on the platform is irreversible, eliminating the risk of data tampering as the diamond moves through the value chain.
In 2021 the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) and Bain & Company released their latest Diamond Industry Report, highlighting key trends for the industry and an outlook for the next decade.
An important way was the focus on sustainability and social consumerism. The report indicated that consumers are more aware of environmental protection, conflict-free supply chains as well as the carbon footprint of mining operations.
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De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said the launch of the tracker is a step in the right direction for the industry as consumer behavior changes to align with conservation and eco-friendly operations.
Cleaver hopes the technology will ensure greater confidence in natural diamonds and ‘become a catalyst of technological change that will raise the standards and values we are able to provide to our end customers.’
Interestingly, South Africa was the only country to see an increase in crude diamond production in 2020, according to the AWDC and Bain reports, while Botswana, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo saw a slight decline.
Botswana’s Minister of Minerals and Energy Lefoko Mogi believes the Tracr system will help the industry navigate the economic uncertainty driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Trust in diamond origins is of utmost importance and we look forward to the roll out of this new program to provide new benefits to the diamond industry and provide greater assurance to consumers.”
Blockchain technology has already played a huge role in the transformation of the global logistics and supply chain industry – more than half of the companies listed on the Forbes Blockchain 50 have adopted the technology to develop new-age systems and platforms.
