Diamonds for Peace Event: Myths in Artisanal Diamond Mining

Beth West

Beth is a gemmologist, educator and writer with over fifteen years’ experience in the industry across varying roles. As a Fellow and Diamond Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and a member of the Federation of European Education in Gemmology, she has a wealth of passion and knowledge for her subject, which, outside of her immediate professional responsibilities as a director of GCS laboratory in London, she employs across a number of projects, with a particular focus on gemological education and her work as a volunteer/trainer for Diamonds for Peace.

Caelen Burand

Caelen Burand is an ambitious mining engineer and geologist studying at the University of Arizona. As a striving polymath enthusiastic about responsible resourcing, Caelen has worked within mineral resources since he first got experience as an underground miner at the age of 16. Since then, he has had varied experiences as a founder, non-profit director, geologist and engineer within diverse organizations like Young Mining Professionals, Nevada Gold Mines, Cholla Lapidary, and the Last Chance Mine. He has a strong passion for professional mining and works with non-profits, NGO’s, governments, and others to improve the practices of artisanal and small-scale miners. During his free time, Caelen enjoys taking care of his dogs, hosting the Our Resources podcast, and getting temporarily lost while exploring the natural world.