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Gemstone value is often associated with origin, as the color, clarity, carat weight, cut, and other attributes of interest to consumers are often associated with the geological location of the stone. In this paper, we consider how the provenance of gemstones is harnessed through the ‘4P’ framework of product, price, promotion, and place. Both tanzanite and Zultanite/Csarite are currently each mined commercially in only one location in the world. Tanzanite is mined in Mererani, near Arusha, Tanzania, and Zultanite/Csarite is mined in Milas, near Mugla, Turkey. While this rarity and other attributes were successfully leveraged so that tanzanite attained global recognition, Zultanite/Csarite has remained largely unknown. Our study examines the potential reasons why tanzanite and Zultanite/Csarite have experienced such different degrees of success on the global gemstone market. Our main findings suggest that rarity and single-origin are not adequate determinants of value, and that consumer preferences for color need to be carefully marketed with a powerful storyline and linked to unique aspects of their place of origin, such as tourism and local culture.

Industrial disasters are a test of human and ecological resilience and offer a complex set of choices for restorative activity after their occurrence. Unlike natural calamities, industrial disasters have greater human agency associated with their prevention and remediation. In this paper, we analyze two major disasters that occurred within a period of five years in Brazil involving similar mine tailings dams, particularly the role of participatory processes in shaping reparation. We examine the lessons from the divergent compensation mechanisms instituted afterwards and the reasons for community dissatisfaction. Our analysis reveals that ex post efforts at community participation in disaster recovery have gaps in participation. We identified some specific aspects to explain the gaps in participatory processes: power relations, role of the public sector, the timing of the process, and access to information and representation. There is danger of these recovery processes getting “lost in participation” and delivering suboptimal outcomes. There is a major trust deficit between industry and communities legacies in Latin America, further exacerbating the challenge. We conclude with global lessons from this case that can be incorporated into international processes such as creation of a new global institute and certification body on mining waste facilities, as recommended by the Global Tailings Review, which was initiated as a result of these disasters.

The major challenge that companies face when engaging in sustainable livelihood transformations is related to the tiers of governance dynamics in which companies are immersed. The implementation of social responsibility agendas in poorly governed regions rarely delivers sustainable legacies for communities. This article posits the idea that the lack of regional connectivity in governance and conflict prevents companies from playing a stronger role in forging sustainable livelihoods. In this context, this article equips us with a broader understanding of the contribution of the private sector in delivering development outcomes. It does this through a comparative case study analysis of Risaralda and Antioquia, two resource regions in Colombia with differing governance nexus with private enterprise.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in identifying robust indicators which demonstrate the links between mining and development. This builds on an extensive body of work in the broad field of rural development, and aims to capture the extent to which mining is contributing to changes in economic, socio-cultural, health, political and environmental conditions. While these indicators are contested on both conceptual and methodological grounds, we argue in this paper that the sustainable livelihoods (SL) framework might offer a more robust means of understanding the interplay between mining and development. The paper traces the emergence of this framework and considers how it might be situated in the context of existing ‘resource studies’ literature, before proposing methodological and conceptual alternatives for understanding the links between mining and development.

This paper examines the role of religious identity in the context of a coal development project in District Tharparkar, Pakistan. Research was conducted in six rural communities located in the vicinity of the coal project. The results obtained are important for two reasons. First, they provide insights into the heterogeneous composition of communities based on religious identity, which explains contrasting perceptions toward project development. Second, they entail a practical dimension that suggests that in the process of assessment, development and management of coal resources, differences related to religious and community identity must be recognized and taken into account to minimize community conflict.