While the clarity of 'Santa Maria' Aquamarine, the neon of Paraiba Tourmaline, and the brilliance of Imperial Topaz still shine in the hearts of jewelry enthusiasts, Brazil—the land that once yielded over 65% of the world's colored gemstones—is facing an unprecedented industry winter.
The GUILD Inspection Team has visited Brazil multiple times, witnessing the busy mining areas and the bustle of major trading hubs. In August this year, the team delved deeper into the land, visiting major gem trading hubs such as São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Teófilo Otoni, Valadares, and Itabira. After dialogues with 4 major industry associations and interviews with over 100 practitioners, they witnessed a scene entirely different from before: offices once crowded with clients are now empty, production of some colored gem categories has nearly stalled, and even the highly popular Paraiba Tourmaline has fallen into a 'Supply Chain Shock'.
Industry Dilemma: Production Halved and Trade 'Frozen'
The current Brazilian colored gem industry is shrouded by two keywords: 'Production Cut' and 'Stagnation'. GUILD Inspection Team research found that current Brazilian colored gem production has sharply decreased to a fraction of what it was a few years ago, with some categories even coming to a standstill. Teófilo Otoni, once a vibrant Brazilian gem cutting and trading hub, now sees a significant reduction in foot traffic. Its industry status is comparable to Chanthaburi in Thailand or Ratnapura in Sri Lanka, but today's scene is far from its former glory.
A local dealer with many years of experience revealed to the GUILD Inspection Team: 'In the offices a few years ago, they were packed with clients with queues outside; now, brokers can only receive 1-2 clients bringing gems per day.' The entire industry seems to have been pressed on a 'Pause Button'.
However, all interviewed mine owners and dealers emphasized that the reason for the sharp production decline is not resource depletion, but multiple external pressures. What truly traps the industry are external shackles that are difficult to break through.
From Licenses to Tariffs: The Survival Dead End for Small and Medium Miners
6-12 Year 'License Deadline'
In Brazil, the longest part of mining is not exploring the veins, but waiting for a license. According to an Aquamarine mining practitioner who shared with the GUILD Inspection Team, he invested continuously for 6 years without producing a single gem, and the license approval time is still unknown; even so, he considers his business 'smooth'. With years of mining history, his application process can proceed step-by-step, while more practitioners face more complex obstacles and uncertainties.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, this is almost a fatal blow: significant capital is required for equipment, labor, and exploration in the early stages of mining, yet one must wait for years without any output. Most companies cannot survive until the day the license is approved; early expenses and efforts are wasted, and they ultimately fall before the 'first return' arrives. In today's Brazilian colored gem industry, the wave of small mine closures has become the norm, with only a few qualified large mining companies able to 'pass' the approval process.
Large Industrial Mineral Squeeze, Gems May Become 'Sacrifices'
Brazil's mining policy may be pushing colored gems into the position of a 'sacrifice'. Current Brazilian environmental policies and mining requirements mainly target large-scale minerals such as coal, iron, and lithium. These minerals offer more direct economic returns, and only giant mines can afford compliance costs. However, paradoxically, many major colored gem production areas overlap significantly with industrial mineral areas, with Minas Gerais State being the most typical example.
• Itatiaia Mine in Minas Gerais State, where one can enter the Aquamarine and Morganite mining areas
This land is both a core production area for Aquamarine, Morganite, and Kunzite, and a mining area for Brazil's large-scale lithium mines. As a key raw material for lithium batteries, the economic return of industrial lithium mining is far higher than the scattered colored gem mining of small mine owners. Mechanized operations, while mining lithium, also destroy the gem veins within. Currently, only a few large modern colored gem mines (such as Belmont Mine, Cruzeiro Mine, etc.) can maintain operations; the vast majority of small mine owners cannot afford the high costs.
Tariffs 'Lock' Trade
If licenses and policy biases are internal obstacles, then US tariff policies delivered a fatal blow to the Brazilian colored gem industry.
On July 30, 2025, US President Trump signed an executive order announcing a 50% tariff on most Brazilian exports,叠加 the previously implemented 10% 'Reciprocal Tariff', bringing the total rate to 60%. The increase affects Brazil's agriculture, chemicals, mining, and mechanical equipment sectors. The Brazilian colored gem industry also 'cannot escape this calamity'; industry transactions were directly 'locked', goods sold to the US market could not flow out, and Brazilian gems sold to India or Hong Kong, China also needed to pay high tariffs entering the US due to traceability rules; coupled with the complex situation where some products rely on Chinese processing factories, tariff calculations became even more chaotic.
The final result is that practitioners generally chose to 'pause actions'; some admitted 'the best choice is to do nothing'. Everyone hoped the tariffs were a short-term policy, but no one could determine when they would be cancelled. Now, the turnover rate of Brazilian colored gem goods has dropped to 1/3 of the past, with even stagnation appearing. The increase in costs pushed up market prices through the price transmission mechanism, and the industry fell into an unprecedented slump.
Supply Chain 'Shock', The Crisis of Paraiba Tourmaline
Among all colored gem categories facing difficulties, Paraiba Tourmaline is in the most severe situation. Paraiba Tourmaline is one of the most favored colored gems after Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, and also one of the categories with the fastest price increase. Its global supply chain has long relied on Brazil and Mozambique in Africa. Brazil is not only the first discovered origin of Paraiba Tourmaline, but Brazilian enterprises were also the first group to discover and acquire African Paraiba Tourmaline. The overview of Paraiba Tourmaline understood by this GUILD Inspection Team is essentially equivalent to the full picture of the global Paraiba Tourmaline supply chain.
In the current market, Paraiba Tourmaline over 0.5 carats suitable for jewelry setting almost all come from two mines in Mozambique. Last August, the GUILD Inspection Team had already arranged to go to Mozambique, but suddenly received notice of local riots, and the mines were closed urgently. According to the mine operator, during the riots, the mining area was severely looted—goods were completely plundered, removable equipment was taken away, and immovable ceilings, floors, and walls were all pushed down. 'Twenty years of operation and tens of millions of USD investment were leveled overnight'.
Even more worrying is that the operator clearly stated 'no restart plan': 'Even if funds can be gathered to rebuild, there is no guarantee that riots will not happen again; the local stability may not support long-term mining.' This means that future new production of Paraiba Tourmaline over 1 carat may be completely cut off.
Currently, the only Paraiba Tourmaline mine still actively mining in Brazil is the MTB Mine, but its output capacity is limited: it mainly produces small carat gems from a few points to twenty-something points; 50 points is already considered 'large', and very few finished stones reach over half a carat after cutting. The mine owner revealed in 2019 that the last time the mine produced Paraiba Tourmaline over 3 carats was five years ago; it has been nearly ten years since then, with no large carat gems produced.
In the future, the supply of Paraiba Tourmaline as a center stone will be tighter and scarcer, relying only on stock transactions. How the market pattern evolves still needs observation.
Glimmer in the Dilemma: Stable Output of Brazilian Emeralds
Just as the entire industry was shrouded in gloom, Brazilian Emeralds became a rare glimmer, not only maintaining stable high-quality output but also possessing the potential for undervalued market value.
Among the three precious gemstones—Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald—Emerald may be the only category capable of maintaining stable high-quality production in the short term. Currently, Colombian Emerald production has significantly stagnated, and Zambia's production is unstable due to political turmoil. In comparison, Brazilian Emeralds continue to produce stably.
The Belmont Mine visited by the GUILD Inspection Team this time is a key support for the Brazilian and even global emerald industry. This mine is known as one of the most technologically advanced gem mines in the world, with detailed geological exploration ensuring stable mining and production for many years to come, and no safety or capacity issues have occurred since operation began.
Belmont Mine launched an innovative rough auction system during the pandemic, with excellent auction results. It is also the first mine in the colored gem industry to adopt a fully automated optical sorting system, with extremely low labor dependence. Its excavation, mining, transportation, and sorting facilities have been comprehensively upgraded, and current output quality is stable.
Mine owner Marcelo showed the GUILD Inspection Team the rough stones awaiting auction this year, of which the proportion of high-quality categories is considerable; he also revealed, 'By the time of the Bangkok Show in November, the quantity of such high-quality rough stones may double.' More surprisingly, the 'Canoa Mine' acquired by Belmont Mine has also shown positive changes: in the past, this mine produced emeralds with pale colors but high clarity; now it can produce larger stones with richer colors; even small carat gems can stably maintain color and clarity.
From a consumption logic perspective, consumption trends for precious colored gemstones are linked to the Earth's output. If a category is cut off for a long time, consumers will turn to categories with continuous output. Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald are precious gemstones that have undergone thousands of years of human aesthetic and value screening. Currently, Brazilian Emeralds possess obvious advantages in both price and supply.
However, due to geographical and cultural isolation, Asia, as a major consumption and cutting market, has insufficient awareness and exposure of Brazilian Emeralds; even if top Brazilian Emeralds can rival top Colombian Emeralds, the selling price of products of the same quality is even lower than Zambian Emeralds, which makes local practitioners feel deeply aggrieved.
In the era of the attention economy, the value perception of gemstones often depends on high-frequency market contact and exposure, which is particularly important for long-underestimated Brazilian Emeralds. GUILD President Ruby once shared a representative experience: she once wore a 6-carat-plus Brazilian Emerald ring to the Colombian Emerald Conference, and the industry experts at the scene mistakenly identified it as Colombian Emerald one after another.
This small incident exactly hit the dilemma that Brazilian Emeralds are not yet fully recognized by the market. GUILD President Ruby stated: In fact, any gemstone origin has the possibility of producing top quality; the difference lies only in the production ratio of top gems; at the same time, colored gem mining itself has dynamic change characteristics. With the advancement of vein exploration and development, the importance of different origins in the industry may change significantly over time. The evaluation of colored gems must ultimately return to the gem's own quality, rather than relying solely on the inherent cognition of 'Origin Labels'.
Confidence in the Cold Winter: Industry Finding Vitality in Adjustment
81st Brazil International Jewelry and Watch Exhibition (FENINJER+)
Despite the difficult situation, practitioners in the Brazilian colored gem industry have not fallen into despair. The GUILD Inspection Team found in interviews that practitioners generally remain confident about the industry's future. When asked 'Have you experienced worse years in your career?', everyone unanimously mentioned 2008: '2008 was worse than now, but 2009 saw the strongest rebound in history.' This understanding of cycles, combined with the innate 'optimism and peace' of the Brazilian nation, leads most Brazilian practitioners to believe 'the market will always return'. Even in a semi-retired state, they have not given up attention to the industry, still waiting for policy and market turning points.
At the same time, the industry's globalization trend is adjusting towards 'Regionalization' and 'Localization'. In the past, practitioners traveled around the globe for exhibitions year-round; now, to save costs and deal with tariff issues, everyone is reducing intercontinental trips. A jeweler revealed to the GUILD Inspection Team that they have reduced from attending the Hong Kong show three times a year to only once this year, even planning 'not to go to Asia next year'; a practitioner who attended the Tucson Show for 40 years is considering not participating in 2026 for the first time and transferring the booth to others; more people choose to 'keep only the Tucson Show and cancel other global exhibition trips'.
• 81st Brazil International Jewelry and Watch Exhibition (FENINJER+)
During the GUILD Inspection Team's visit, coinciding with the local Brazilian jewelry exhibition (held for 81 sessions), the show's popularity was surprisingly hot. The trading atmosphere and practitioner mindset were relatively positive; the vitality of the local market is becoming a 'buffer zone' during the industry's adjustment period.
Conclusion
After a two-week inspection traversing Brazilian mines and markets, the GUILD team left with a complex impression: on one hand, the desolation of Teófilo Otoni town and the sudden break in the Paraiba Tourmaline supply chain speak of the industry's severe winter; on the other hand, the advanced equipment of Belmont Mine, the high-quality emerald rough stones shown by mine owner Marcelo, and the optimism still retained by local practitioners make people see the resilience of this industry.
As a local mine owner said: 'Gems are always there, just waiting for the right time to shine again.' Perhaps this is the best footnote to the Brazilian colored gemstone industry: difficulties are temporary, while value is eternal.
