Bruce Cleaver Joins Gemfields Board

Gemfields has appointed former De Beers CEO and cochair Bruce Cleaver as head of its board of directors.  

Cleaver, who will begin in the new role on July 1, will also become chair of the nomination committee, Gemfields said Tuesday. The ex-De Beers executive left as CEO of the diamond-mining giant in 2022, and stepped down as cochair in January. 

“[Cleaver’s] reputation as a preeminent leader is well documented, and he brings considerable experience of mining gemstones in Africa and marketing them internationally,” said the company, which owns the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique and the Kagem emerald deposit in Zambia.  

The former De Beers head succeeds Martin Tolcher, who will be resigning from his position at Gemfields after being on its board for 15 years and chair for five. 

“Gemfields is a unique and extraordinary business, one that has taken a fragmented and fairly informal industry to considerable sophistication as the first consistent supplier of significant quantities of colored gemstones in a responsible and transparent manner,” Cleaver noted. “The parallels with De Beers’ origins and how consistent and reliable supply can deliver remarkable industry growth and positive contributions to communities are clear to all. I look forward to working with…the Gemfields team as we prepare the company for its next stage of growth.” 

That development includes the construction of a new processing plant at Montepuez, which will triple its current capacity. The project is set to be completed in the first half of 2025. 

As well as Cleaver, Gemfields has named Kieran Daly and Simon Scott to the board.

Image: Bruce Cleaver. (De Beers)