Tanzanite Foundation Closes Down, But What Does It Mean For Consumers?

By now most of you might have heard that the Tanzanite Foundation has closed down due to varies reasons including falling prices, illegal mining and other economical factors. While this is sad news for the industry, it is highly unlikely that this announcement is going to affect the production or availability of this amazing gemstone.

The Tanzanite Foundation was created to market Tanzanite and introduce the world to it’s amazing colours. They also helped create a standard way to describe and supply the various colours of Tanzanite.

“The Tanzanite Foundation was a pioneer in the gem industry by being the first colored gemstone specific marketing agency, encouraging more designers to work with tanzanite,” explains Henning, who has served the agency for seven years. “Tanzanite is one of the world’s most precious and exotic gems, and despite being a small operation, I’m proud of our accomplishments—not only in promoting tanzanite, but in the social responsibility arena where we’ve made a huge difference to the lives of the local community outside the tanzanite mining area.”

The Tanzanite Foundation also helped fund countless aid projects as well as helping out local community projects. While this organisation will be missed, the supply of Tanzanite will not be affected to the general public.

To finish, here is an awesome video from Pala International that shows how Tanzanite is mined from the ground. It is a grueling and labour intensive process, but it is well worth it in the end.