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Ottawa--The nonprofit Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) is slated to give a talk at American Gem Society Conclave on how the organization is working to improve conditions related to artisanal diamond mining, which accounts for 15 percent of the supply in the marketplace.

The session, “Artisanal Diamond Mining: Concerns-Information-Answers,” is scheduled for April 25 from 4 to 5 p.m. Patricia Syvrud, head of program development for the Friends of DDI, will make the presentation.

In addition, Syvrud will introduce Conclave-attending retailers to the Friends of DDI program. Retailers can become “Friends” of the organization by making a donation and, in turn, receive the Retailers Friendship Kit, including a certificate of recognition, counter displays, information postcards and gift box insert cards printed with the donor’s name, which can be distributed to customers.

According to the DDI, members in its Friends program “conveys to consumers a jeweler’s concern for diamond workers who labor under challenging artisanal mining conditions.”

“We appreciate the AGS’s support in sharing our message. Currently, artisanal diamond mining (ADM) supplies 15 percent of all gem production in the marketplace. That percentage is expected to grow as supplies change and large-scale producers re-evaluate their position in the pipeline. All indications are that the work of DDI in helping to legitimize ADM will only grow in importance in the next decade,” said DDI Executive Director Dorothée Gizenga.

This year’s AGS Conclave will take place in Miami from April 25 to 28 at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa.