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The smart consumer's diamond buying guide.... |
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Diamond Buying Made Easier > Conflict DiamondsConflict DiamondsMuch has been made of conflict diamonds in the past 10 years or so. Most people don't know the complete story of conflict diamonds and as a result there is a lot of misinformation that is still floating around. Conflict diamonds do 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 about conflict diamonds. What are conflict diamonds? Things with the "conflict" label attached to them refers to an item, usually some type of natural resource, which comes out of area which is involved in some sort of civil unrest. These areas of conflict are generally in what are considered "third world countries", such as areas in Africa or Southeast Asia. Conflict diamonds are a pretty well known situation but most people will very seldom hear about conflict oil, conflict timber, conflict columbite-tantalite (coltan), or conflict cassiterite (tin ore). Conflict timber helped fund Pol Pot's little social experiment in killing nearly 2 million fellow Cambodians in the 70s. These natural resources, along with others, are probably more of a problem than conflict diamonds ever were! The term conflict diamonds is generally in reference to diamonds that come out of unstable African countries. 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."  Diamond crystals or as they are more commonly called "diamond rough" are small, easily transportable, and command high prices.... because of this concentration of wealth it has historically made diamonds a good source of funds. Conflict diamonds along with other items have been a funding source for both sides of a number of conflict. Many African countries are still struggling with making the transition from being a colony to being an independent country. Some African countries have not been very successful, while some other countries have made the transition without major prolonged upheavals. Diamonds, both conflict diamonds and conflict free diamonds, have played a role in both of these types of countries and the roads that they have chosen to travel. Easy riches.... Billions of years ago, diamonds were formed deep in the earth, they came to the surface by way of volcanic eruptions, and the resulting mountain of cooled lava ended up being eroded away by rain over millions of years. The diamond rough was washed away and ended up in alluvial deposits....  alluvial diamonds are deposits of diamonds found in lowlands areas, in old river beds, in the beds of streams and shallow rivers.
Alluvial diamonds are usually found between a few feet to 20 feet below the surface. Most conflict diamonds are alluvial in nature because 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 anyone with an AK-47. Diamonds in the rough with a different result.... In contrast to alluvial diamond mining areas where we know most conflict diamonds come from, there are kimberlite "diamond pipe" deposits where the conflict free  diamonds are found. 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.Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, and Namibia (Namibia is not known for diamond pipes but it has deep sea alluvial mining)... they all had the foresight to set up proper infrastructure and they also worked with companies like DeBeers in order to use the income from diamonds to build up there countries. Diamonds from these areas are generally not in the conflict diamonds category but are instead considered as conflict free diamonds. Angola, Congo, and Sierra Leone are places that never bothered with proper diamond mining and distribution infrastructures for their countries because of the relative ease in alluvial mining. 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... hence, they got labeled as conflict diamonds. The current status of conflict diamonds... When the topic of conflict diamonds comes up, many people incorrectly equate them to "blood diamonds" and 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. No one wants to knowingly buy a conflict diamond.... and the good news is that 99.98% of diamonds are conflict free diamonds. The overall situation with conflict diamonds has greatly improved since the end of Sierra Leone's civil war in 2002. A big part of the improvement of reducing the amount of conflict diamonds has been the establishment of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, KPCS. This process helps to control the flow of diamond rough and lessen the possibility of conflict diamonds entering the diamond distribution pipeline. KPCS is not a perfect system but it is a vast improvement over what was going on previously. 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! In the past few years, there have been a number of companies that have begun selling conflict free diamonds that are guaranteed to be from areas which are not involved in any type of exploitation. Buying a conflict free diamond can be reassuring to many people and it is good that they are now able to find jewelry that fulfills all of their needs. My thoughts about conflict diamonds.... > In the late 90s and early 2000s, it was a great feat that many different groups brought to light the situation of conflict diamonds and more specifically the horrible situation of blood diamonds. 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 now many years behind us. > It is unbelievable that some people are using photos of Sierra Leone amputees to promote the buying of non African diamonds, or to promote buying diamond simulants (Cubic Zirconias), or using shocking photos for fund raising purposes. Anytime you see these heart wrenching images please be aware that these people are trying to manipulate you at the same time that they are only 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. > Conflict oil, conflict coltan, conflict timber, and conflict 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.... these things are just not as sexy of a target as conflict diamonds. - Important Take Away Points - |
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