Introduction This report represents weeks of research into a topic that my family has been raised to question since we were children. That topic is the circulation of diamonds across the world that were bought from mines that used the funds to help create a military that would enslave many parts of Africa. These diamonds, widely known as ‘blood diamonds,’ can be found in almost every corner of the world. These days, it is hard to find a diamond that doesn’t have a conflicting history. I made this report to investigate the questions: • Are there any alternatives to diamonds in circulation? • How can you tell if a retailer stocks blood diamonds? My findings come from a plethora of different sources. I have found multiple peer reviewed articles from the Salt Lake Community College databases offered to every student. I also have an uncle who orders diamonds for a product that he produces. And there are also multiple websites I discovered that offered plenty of information regarding my topic. Hopefully, my findings will help enlighten others searching for conflict free diamonds. Findings A brief history of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Christopher Mullins offers a history of every major power to be in control of the Congo in his article “Gold, diamonds and blood: International state-corporate crime in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Colonized by the Belgians in towards the end of the nineteenth century, the explorer Henry Stanley was ordered to create a base that claims the land under Belgian rule. Africa was ripe with unused resources, such as trees, and multiple minerals. This area of Africa was subject to being dominated by whites looking to mine the resources for good money. After World War 2, Belgian began to lose p... ... middle of paper ... ...ence Mullins, C. W., & Rothe, D. L. (2008). Gold, diamonds and blood: International state-corporate crime in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Contemporary Justice Review, 11(2), 81-99. doi:10.1080/10282580802057678 Nyota, S., & Sibanda, F. (2012). Digging for Diamonds, Wielding New Words: A Linguistic Perspective on Zimbabwe's ‘Blood Diamonds’. Journal Of Southern African Studies, 38(1), 129-144. doi:10.1080/03057070.2012.656436 Schlosser, K. (2013). Regimes of Ethical Value? Landscape, Race and Representation in the Canadian Diamond Industry. Antipode, 45(1), 161-179. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.00996.x Winetroub, A. H. (2013). A Diamond Scheme is Forever Lost: The Kimberley Process's Deteriorating Tripartite Structure and its Consequences for the Scheme's Survival. Indiana Journal Of Global Legal Studies, 20(2), 1425-1444. doi:10.2979/indjglolegstu.20.2.1425
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
DeBeers founded in 1880’s became the world’s largest diamond mining and trading company in the world. When DeBeers was established it controlled around 45% of the world’s diamond production and sold over 80% of all diamonds produced. DeBeers used underhand tactics to remove smaller diamond mines and punished those who tried to break away from the DeBeers “empire”.
Hauser, E., 2002. "The Diamond Cartel: Monopolizing an Industry.". History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide. Ed. Sonia G. Benson, Nancy Matuszak, and Meghan Appel O'Meara. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, pp. 61-72.
Schlosser, K. (2013). Regimes of ethical value? landscape, race and representation in the Canadian diamond industry. Antipode, 45(1), 161-179. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.00996.x
About status within your peer group. Even people on low monthly salaries would buy a high quality diamond: it was a family driven purchase.
Howden, Daniel. "Exclusive: The Return of Blood Diamonds - Africa, World - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. 25 June 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
Out of all the earth’s major natural resources, diamonds are the most sought after and most mysterious. Throughout history, the virtuosity and resistance of diamonds have caused fighters and lover’s great pain and happiness. For centuries, the value of the diamond commodity became increasingly popular. However, it wasn’t until the mid 1900s, when diamonds permanently made their signature as the world’s most indispensable symbol of love and affection (Howard, Vick 2008). Soon after, diamond rings became the 21st century standard of engagement rings. Without a doubt, everybody in society knows how valuable this commodity is. Nonetheless, what truly makes this commodity more valuable are the stages it goes through from the diamond mines to th...
Santarossa, B. (2004, January 13). Diamonds: Adding lustre to the Canadian economy. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004008-eng.htm
[5] Diamond Industry Annual Review, De Beers Signs New Angolan Agreement, [internet] Accessed on: 13th November 2005, http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/addendum%20angola%202005-english.pdf
The value of diamonds lies on their physical properties that make them suitable for many applications. Natural diamonds are only of high value if they are scarce in nature. Realizing this, De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed to control the supply of diamonds from mines across the world. The diamond market is influenced by mine production, rough diamond distribution, preparation/cutting, and retail markets. The project will be concentrating on the retail markets for diamonds and other high end jewelry.
The film marker is trying to raise awareness of the illicit conflict diamond trade and reinforcing the Kimberley process1 and showing how it will stem the flow of conflict diamonds. This is successful mainly due to the public outburst after the movie. The great impact of the movie has caused diamond companies like De Beers2 to start a pre-emptive PR (public relationship) campaign, even before the movie was released to inform people that their diamonds are conflict-free.
The third determinant of the diamond – related and supporting industries looks at the industry suppliers and...
Diamonds were created million years ago, when the earth was formed, the material experienced pressure of 5million times the atmosphere at sea level and temperatures between 1000~1200degreesC. These conditions caused carbon in the layers inside the planet to crystallize into diamonds. The diamonds moved up to the earth’s surface through volcano eruptions. This is why many Diamond mines are near volcanoes. Diamonds occur in two types of rock: Kimberlite and Lamprolite. Diamonds are mostly found in South Africa, India, Brazil, Russia, Australia, and Arkansas. Right now about 100million carats are mined each year. Today the largest cut Diamond in the world is the Cullian I at 530.2ct .
... rebel fighters and insurgencies. The practice is most often associated with conflicts in Africa. The argument surrounding blood diamonds was brought to light in the early 1990s with civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, the Republic of Congo, and Liberia. During this time, blood diamonds comprised about 5 percent of the world diamond market, according to the World Diamond Council’s DiamondFacts.org website.