Election Results

Welcome the new President and Board of Directors

Ambassador's Report - Kenya

by Invitation Only

 

ICA in Tucson

Board of Directors to Meet

Pick up your Members Only Resource Directory

Tucson Showguides available

Tucson Reception - Mark Your Calendar!

Special Sponsorships Available!

Back in Print - Special Advertising Rates for InColor

Inhorgenta

ICA in Munich

 

AGTA moves from JCK Show to LV Convention Center

ICA|GemLab - a new look

ICA Jaipur Congress Pictorial

At the 2017 Jaipur Congress, Oct. 21-24, the ICA Board of Directors elected Clement Sabbagh, Governador Valadares, Brazil, as the new ICA President.

It gives us great pleasure to introduce Clement and our new Board of Directors.

Three new directors were installed: Kobi Sevdermish from Israel, Chen Shen from China, and Saurabh Bansal from Germany. Ruben Bindra, ICA member and past president of AGTA, was asked to join the Board as an advisory member.

From left to right

 

Front row: Philippe Scordia, Ehud Harel (outgoing Israel director), Marcelo Ribeiro, Gamini Zoysa, Rakesh Jain, BJ Hackman, Kobi Sevdermish, Vijay Kedia, Chen Shen, JC Michelou, Saurabh Bansal.

 

Back row: Gary Roskin, Pavel Sokolov, Clement Sabbagh, Bruce Bridges, Nirmal Bardiya, Stephan Reif, Captain Sharma, Damien Cody.

 

Missing: Warren Boyd, Gabriel Angarita, Shirley Zhang, Masaru Mizumura, Alice Muthama, Henry Ho, Santpal Sinchawla, Ruben Bindra

 

By Antony Zagoritis (GG)

ICA Ambassador to Kenya

The gemstone mining situation in Kenya is weak at present. This is largely as a result of the new Mining Act which has created confusion and uncertainty regarding the continuity of Mining Licenses by an opaque interpretation of the issue of landholder consent. 

There is some Tsavorite production but largely smaller pieces up to 1 gram and mostly light in color. The larger mines are unproductive due to court cases or uncertainty caused by security of tenure due to the aforementioned badly written sections of the new Mining Act which came into force this year.

Ruby : There has been some scattered production of small parcels from the alluvial Ruby deposit in Baringo district. This is due to resurgence in artisanal mining in the area but is very sporadic. Colors are mostly pinkish but some de eper reds. The vast majority of the production is flat alluvial pebbles mostly heavily included in the 0.1 to 1 gram sizes.

Orange "Savannah" Tourmaline from Taita Taveta has been seen in the market these past few months coming from artisanal mines in the area. Mixed sizes and clarities with some larger sizes seen.

Yellow Sapphire from Garbatula is still being mined artisanally but poor mining methods and insecurity in the area has meant that most dealers are only seeing smaller stones in 1 gram sizes and below. Fine "canary yellow" colors and the majority of the crystals are clean. Some nice parti-colored crystals too.

The dealer's market in Nairobi has been seeing quite a lot of Emerald coming in from Ethiopia this past 6 months - some very fine pieces resembling the old Tanzanian deposits of Sumbawanga and Manyara showing a deeply saturated bluish Green. Whilst many of the crystals are quite heavily included, but occasionally we are seeing some larger cleaner pieces with exceptional color.

Emeralds, Golden Tourmaline, Bi-color Yellow/Blue Sapphire, and Ruby.

Kenya Mining Forum

The 2 nd Kenya Mining Forum was held at Nairobi's Safari Park Hotel on December 4/5. It was a well-attended event. The Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Dan Kazungu's keynote speech gave the government's position on the industry, chiefly that the government was aiming for greater transparency and efficiency in the sector. Whether the government achieves this will depend largely on amendments to the recently introduced Mining Act, particularly with regard to the issue of landholder consent which presently threatens to remove security of tenure of current miners and discourage investment. 

 

Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference

    

An ICA Invitation Only event!

 

When: Monday, January 29th

Where: Tucson Convention Center - Graham Room

Time: 9:30 am - 1:00 pm

            Continental breakfast beginning at 8:45 am

 

For over two decades, the Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference (GILC), organized by the ICA every year, has provided a space for industry peers to discuss worldwide gemstone issues like ethical practices, nomenclature, consumer confidence, terminology, and accurate use of laboratories for certification and grading purposes.   

 

GILC - 2018

"A Conversation Between Gem Suppliers  

and Professional Gemological Laboratories"

 

Moderating the conversation at the GILC this year will be ICA secretary and AGTA vice president Bruce Bridges, Bridges Tsavorite.

Short presentations will feature AGTA president, Jeffrey Bilgore, Dr. Adolf Peretti, GRS GemResearch Swisslab, Dr. Lore Kiefert from the Gübelin Gem Lab (GGL), a representative from the Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF), and ICA member Christopher Smith, American Gemological Laboratories (AGL), as well as ICA past president Andrew Cody representing the Australian Opal Association.

This year's agenda concerns color nomenclature, including the validity and necessity for "Pigeon Blood," "Royal Blue," "Muzo Green," as well as a look at the validity and necessity for "African Paraiba." Cody will be giving an update as to Australian opal nomenclature.

      

Entrance for the 2018 GILC will be by Invitation Only. 

 

To find out about invitations, and more about the event in general, please contact the ICA New York Office, at 1-212-620-0900, or by e-mail at IC[email protected]

Sunday

The ICA Board of Directors meet annually in Tucson. With a new president, Clement Sabbagh, along with four new board members, Kobi Sevdermish, Chen Shen, Saurabh Bansal, and Ruben Bindra, we are anticipating a full day of work. 

Monday

ICA's GILC is back! After a year's hiatus, the GILC is now, thanks to the efforts of the GILC committee headed up by co-chairs Ray Zajicek and Bruce Bridges, back and following its original format, where ICA gemstone suppliers can have a meaningful conversation with the major gemological laboratories.

This is an invitation only event. If you are an ICA member, and did NOT receive an invitation, please contact us here at the office and we will send one to you straight away.

 

Attendance is limited as per the size of the room, so it will be first come, first served.

Members Only - Pick up your copy of the ICA Source Directory at the ICA Booth in the promenade at the AGTA's GemFair in the Tucson Convention Center (TCC).

Wednesday January 31st, 2018

University Park Hotel

6:30 pm - ...

FOOD + DRINKS + LIVE BAND!

Ruby Level - $10,000+

ICA|GemLab

Sapphire Level - $5,000+

IBGM

 

The ICA Office has partnered with Inhorgenta Munich Show to showcase our fellow members exhibiting at Inhorgenta on the Fair Directory. 

 

Nearly a dozen ICA members will offer their precious goods at this important event in Messe München from February 16th -19th, 2018. 

 

You are cordially invited to their ICA Reception:

 

Saturday, February 17th, 2018

at 6:00pm at Kaefer Tagesbar