|
 |
|
Diamond Buying Made Easier > Conflict Diamonds
Conflict DiamondsWhat are conflict diamonds? The United Nations (UN) defines conflict diamonds as "....diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council."  Most people don't know the whole story of conflict diamonds and as a result there are others who are trying to use this situation to their benefit. Conflict diamonds have a history that is not very pretty but the current situation is not as dire as some would lead you to believe... first a bit of background. Diamond rough is small, easily transportable, and commands high prices.... because of this concentration of wealth it has historically made diamonds a good source of funds. Some African countries have not been very successful in making the transition from being a colony to being an independent country, while some other countries have made the transition without major prolonged upheavals. Diamonds have played a role in both of these types of countries and the roads that they have chosen to travel. Easy riches.... Conflict diamonds are alluvial in nature.... alluvial diamonds are deposits of diamonds found in lowlands areas, in old river beds, in the beds of streams and shallow rivers. 
Diamonds are formed deep in the earth and come to the surface by way of volcanic eruptions and the resulting mountain of cooled lava ends up being eroded away by rain. The diamond rough is washed
away and ends up in alluvial deposits. Most alluvial diamonds are usually found between a few feet to 20 feet below the surface. Relatively little capital and only basic technology (shovels, sieves,
and muscles) are required to mine alluvial diamonds. These alluvial diamond mining areas are easily controlled by armed thugs.Diamonds in the rough with a different result.... In contrast to alluvial diamond mining areas, there are kimberlite "diamond pipe" deposits. 
These are the original pipes in which diamonds found their way to the surface. Mining rough diamonds from these kimberlite pipes is very technologically advanced and therefore it is also very capital
intensive. These diamonds are mined by an open pit method and by also sinking a shaft next to the pipe in order to dig horizontal tunnels to enter the pipe at greater depths.The countries that required this type of complicated mining techniques- Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, and Namibia (alluvial ocean mining)..... they all had the foresight to set up proper infrastructure and they worked with companies like DeBeers in order to use the income from diamonds to build up there countries. Diamonds from these areas are not in the conflict diamonds category. Countries with alluvial diamond deposits- Angola, Congo, and Sierra Leone..... these places never bothered with proper infrastructure for their countries because of the relative ease in mining and the alluvial diamond mining areas fell into the hands of thugs with AK-47s, machetes, and the will to do whatever they wanted to get whatever they wanted. This was especially true of Sierra Leone during their horrible civil war that ended in 2002. The current status of conflict diamonds. When the topic of conflict diamonds comes up, many people equate them to "blood diamonds" along with all those horrible images of unthinkable inhumanity. Many consumers are rightfully concerned about buying a product that they think may be related to the suffering of innocent people. Thankfully, "blood diamonds" , that sad chapter of human history has come to an end and currently the amount of "conflict diamonds" only accounts for 0.02% of yearly worldwide diamond production.... this would make it extremely unlikely that you'd ever encounter a conflict diamond! If you looked at one diamond a day, every single day, it would take 13.7 years before you would come across a conflict diamond... I guess it's about the same chance of getting struck by lightning! Unfortunately there are some people who are spreading incorrect and harmful information around about conflict diamonds.... and they tend to fall into two camps- - They are people who don't know what they are talking about but instead they are just repeating what they hear from some air head idiot from Hollywood. - Self serving people who receive a benefit by making you believe that by listening to them you will be able to completely stop the situation of conflict diamonds all together or they will help you avoid buying conflict diamonds by following their advice! Hopefully the first group of people can find correct information and change their thoughts about conflict diamonds. The second group is more troubling because they are ultimately hurting the Africans that they claim they are trying to help. These people, the not for profit NGOs and the for profit companies, want to put forth the impression that there is currently a blood bath going on in parts of Africa and this situation can totally be blamed on conflict diamonds. They will show you horrible images of people who have had their hands cut off and that if you buy conflict diamonds it is you who is responsible for continuing this situation of near genocide! My thoughts about conflict diamonds....  It was a great feat that many different groups brought the situation of conflict diamonds and more specifically
blood diamonds to light in the late 90s and early 2000s. A lot of progress has been made since the end of civil war in Sierra Leone in 2002. The era of Sierra Leone's blood diamonds is behind
us. It is unbelievable that some people are using images of Sierra Leone amputees to promote buying Canadian
diamonds, or promote buying diamond simulants, or using it for fund raising purposes. Anytime you see these images be aware that these people are trying to manipulate you at the same time that they
are helping themselves and not helping any of the people in the photos! I have never seen a photo, or a video of, or heard a report about a diamond picking up a rifle and killing
someone. It was people who did all of these horrible things to other people. You will very seldom hear about conflict oil, conflict timber, conflict columbite-tantalite (coltan), or
conflict cassiterite (tin ore). These natural resources, along with others, are probably more of a problem than conflict diamonds ever were! Conflict timber helped fund Pol Pot's little social
experiment in killing nearly 2 million fellow Cambodians in the 70s. Conflict oil, coltan, and cassiterite are current ongoing problems in Africa today.... but I guess the gas that people put in
their car, coltan that is used in cell phones, and cassiterite used to make tin.... I guess these things just aren't as sexy as diamonds. Attacking diamonds as being bad also attacks wealth as being
bad at the same time..... somehow I don't see these self loathing hippies getting too worked up about tin or wood.
- Important Take Away Points - |
Looking for diamond jewelry, diamond engagement rings, or loose diamonds?
This is the place for diamond buying information! A consumer's guide on how to buy a diamond.... from a jewelry business insider! 
|
|
|
Can You
Give Us A Hand? Please help spread the word about our site... add us to your favorite bookmarking service! 
Subscribe To This Site
      
|
||
|
||
Big Red House / Diamond-Buying-Made-Easier.com Copyright© 2007-2009. | ||
