(PRESS RELEASE) ROYAL OAK, MI — Gem Legacy, a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting gem mining communities, reached its $9,500 goal to fund a compressor for the Precious Women Mine in Mwatate, Kenya. The compressor will make the use of power tools possible, instead of mining by hand with farming tools, and bring oxygen to the end of the mine.
The Precious Women, comprised of an entirely female and largely widowed group, has been working for almost one year and is finding small, richly-colored Tsavorite Garnet. $9,500 funded a used compressor and 3 varieties of jackhammers with installation, replacement parts, and miner training. Because of ongoing interest in supporting artisanal miners, Gem Legacy has added an Equipment and Tools Initiative to provide an avenue for the industry to give back to colored gemstone mines on a regular basis (gemlegacy.org/equipment-tools).
“We are thankful for donors from all over the industry who made this happen,” said Roger Dery, executive director of Gem Legacy, Inc. “We chose the Precious Women Mine as our first long-term mine partnership because of their will to succeed and their dedication to serving their community. We can’t wait to see what they do in 2019. They are excited, invigorated, and driven with new hope because of their new tool that has the power to forever transform their progress.”
For more information, please email info@gemlegacy.org. To learn more, follow Gem Legacy on Instagram and Facebook @thegemlegacy.