32 | JNA January/February 2023 JWA DUBAI 2023 Belmont Emeralds from Brazil, already a trailblazer in coloured gemstone mining and product innovation, continues to score major operational and business breakthroughs. For more than 40 years, the mine-to-market emerald producer has been the industry benchmark for responsible, state-of-the-art mining as well as technological advancements in emerald production. Belmont was the first company to introduce optical sorting in gemstone mining in 2004. This year, it will be the first to use laser sorting in its mining operations. This new technology allows for better recovery of material and increases productivity and accuracy, according to Belmont Group President Marcelo Ribeiro, the third-generation leader of the family corporation that operates across the mining, construction, real estate and agricultural sectors. In 1998, Belmont pioneered large-scale underground mining using ramps instead of shafts, which made it possible to access the orebody with large equipment. Last year, it introduced the use of high-capacity electric drillers that increase production while reducing emissions in the mining operation. Ribeiro expects to increase processing and sorting capacity threefold. As Belmont will be able to mine different areas at the same time, it can now offer more emeralds and a wider selection of stone qualities. Responsible mining Belmont will start operating its own 1.5MW photovoltaic power plant this year. “This pioneering initiative will generate clean energy from the sun, allowing our mine to run on renewable energy. We look forward to its full implementation that will enable us to operate fully with zero emissions in the near future as we are thoroughly committed to running sustainable and responsible operations,” Ribeiro said. At Belmont’s current scale ofmining production, it will have emerald deposits for over a hundred years, he revealed. The Belmont Emeralds CATEGORY 类别 Outstanding Coloured Gemstone Enterprise of the Year 年度杰出彩宝企业 2 1 Belmont has been at the forefront of Brazilian emerald production and trade for over 40 years. It continues its stellar run by expanding its mining operations and consolidating the sales of rough through auctions. 40多年来，Belmont一直站在巴西祖母绿生产及贸易之 前沿，并通过拓展开采业务及举行多场原石拍卖会，延续辉煌成绩。
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