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Diamond mining began in the West African country of Sierra Leon in the 1930s and, since then, diamonds of high quality have been mined in large quantities from the country. Till 1998, some 55 million carats of gem quality diamonds had been reportedly mined in Sierra Leon, amounting to a cost of about 15 billion US dollars. Majority of the country’s population, however, remains poor due to the continuous history of violence and conflict between hostile factions, mainly over the possession of the diamond mines.
Source of Sierra Leon Diamonds
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In Sierra Leon, like in most other places, diamonds are found in Kimberley's, which are deep-seated igneous rocks coming to shallower depths as intrusions (dikes) in pre-existing rocks due to the upward movement of magma. In Sierra Leon, Kimberley's were first found by miners in Koidu in 1948. Diamond-bearing Kimberli's were later discovered at Tonga and Panama by using a variety of mining techniques. Estimated reserves of two million carats of diamonds are believed to occur at a depth of about 300 meters in Koidu. Considerably larger deposits of diamonds are believed to occur at Tonga, though the estimates of these Kimberley reserves are subject to speculation.
Diamonds and the Economy of Sierra Leon
Despite large diamond reserves and deposits of other minerals, Sierra Leon remains a poor country due to its continuous history of social disorder and domestic peace problems. Diamond exports play a central role in buoying the economy of the country, making about two-thirds of the country’s total earnings from exports. The illegal diamond trade in Sierra Leon has been a main motive for the bloody conflicts and this has lead to naming the diamonds of Sierra Leon as ‘blood diamonds’. An estimated 75,000 people have so far been killed in violence between conflicting factions, fighting directly or indirectly for securing the possession of profitable diamond mines.
The Kimberly Process and Diamond Trade
In May 2000, South African government initiated an international forum called the Kimberly Process that aimed at resolving the trade problem of the blood diamonds of Sierra Leon and other African countries including Angola and Congo. The Kimberly Process is a United Nations’ mandated system that monitors diamond extraction and supply in order to prevent them from becoming the cause of conflict and to ensure their legitimate trade. The forum allows secure shipping of rough diamonds only to the co-participant countries that are part of the Kimberly Process. By involving governments, trade industry, and civil society, the Kimberley initiative is proving fairly effective in preventing diamonds from Sierra Leon to fund more violence.
Resourceful and unscrupulous groups still manage to elude the legal barriers and still find ways of infiltrating the diamond centers of the world. It may not be feasible to stop the trading in conflict diamonds by 100 percent but with marked drop reported in 2004, there is hope for the world that the strife and genocide taking place in Africa will soon come to an end.
Please do not support the war effort. Insist on a certification before purchasing a diamond. It will tell you the stone's carat weight, its color and clarity, flaws, and its origins.