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”. To begin diamonds are can be found all over the world including countries like, Botswana, Canada, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, Australia, and Tanzania. Yet, diamonds are still quite rare and are only found from two dominant deposits. The primary deposits often consist of diamond-bearing “pipes” of volcanic rock called kimberlite. Deep within th... ... middle of paper ... ...n every shape and size, good and bad, encompass the journey of a diamond. But, the final destination of a diamond is in the form of a ring- promising a lifelong commitment in the first world tainted with the blood of third world grief. Works Cited Bertoni, Allessandro. DIAMONDFACTS.ORG. MDBC, 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. . AllAboutDiamonds.org. N.p., 2004-2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. . Kimberley Process (kp). World Trade Orginization, 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. . Amensty International . N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. . Peley, Scott. Brilliant Earth . BBB, 2005-2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. . Brink's Global Services . N.p., 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. .
Summary of Source Information: This article talks about the health conditions of many miners and diamond diggers that are affected due to substandard working conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. In these areas, where there are many unregulated mining locations, workers are prone to being exploited to hazardous working conditions. Children are especially vulnerable in these environments because they already suffer from poor health conditions due to lack of care and nutrition. Children have often been exploited in the diamond industry due to their ability to get into small spaces and dig out packs of dirt. Another health effect associated with diamond mining, in which this article talks about, is how diamond deposits have often mixed with vegetated areas, leaving it unsuitable for farming activities. Mining equipment leaves heavy minerals and chemical products that run into the rivers and contaminate vital sources of water for the mining community and people who live in these rural areas. Currently, diamond companies, as well as labor and health activists, are trying to do something to help improve health conditions of workers.
...t that their sons were child soldiers holding guns and striking down innocent civilians. The horrors and violence that occurred during this ten-year period are unthinkable. Many families are still rebuilding more than ten years later. For a resource that was supposed to bring Sierra Leone out of poverty to leave it in even worse conditions is sad to think about. Though diamonds from conflict areas are banned, some still find their way into the markets. It is up to the buyers of these products to really trace the history of each and every diamond for a stop in this conflict to happen. Consumers can also help by asking for the history of their diamond before buying one. If the world can do this, profit made from diamonds will be going to the right people and the responsibility of violence in conflict areas will no longer be on the diamond industry or the world.
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
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.
1.0 Introduction Historically, most of earliest diamonds were found in India where the first diamond mine in the world were developed (Edward and Hausel 2002). Today, diamond deposits are found in some locations as different situations. For instance, diamonds have been found and mined in southern Africa and the largest deposits are currently in Siberia (Yelisseyev et al., 2013). However, the largest diamond mine in the world is at Argyle in northern Western Australia that produces 25 million carats of diamonds a year and around 30% of the world's production (Andrew, 1998).
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...
Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, stated in a conference, “I was one of those children forced into fighting at the age of 13, in my country Sierra Leone, a war that claimed the lives of my mother, father and two brothers. I know too well the emotional, psychological and physical burden that comes with being exposed to violence as a child or at any age for that matter,” (Brainy Quotes). He grew up during the civil war in 1991, when the Revolutionary United Front (R.U.F.) attempted to overthrow the government. The R.U.F. took control of eastern and southern Sierra Leone territories that were rich in diamonds. In order to purchase weapons and ammunitions, the R.U.F. would enslave villages and use the citizens to mine diamonds and then sell the diamonds to Guinea and Liberia. The rebels would also force children to become soldiers for them. The war lasted eleven years, with an estimated amount of 50,000 to 300,000 dead.
De Beer’s success comes from the common notion that diamonds are indeed rare and valuable. Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were only found in a few riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem quality diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. This changed when huge diamond mines were discove...
Diamonds are said to be a symbol of love and appreciation. What do diamonds really symbolize? Do they symbolize that love can be bought, or how materialistic humans are. Have people ever stopped to think where this shiny stone came from, or how much blood was spilt over it. The United Nations definition for a blood diamond is: "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 of the decisions of the Security Council." A diamond could cost an individual their life. Diamonds are not a girl's best friend. The feud over these diamonds causes violence, unjust labour conditions, and harm to our environment.
The cultural diamond can be best understood and explained through an analysis of its framework and linkages. The diamond consists of four corners: the cultural object, the receiver, the creator and the social world.
Because people are not educated enough about other countries, other wise they would know that, Blood diamonds are something that not everyone has heard about, know how dangerous they can be, and how millions of people every year get killed from them. When I was given the task of going to South Africa to meet with someone that have been affected by conflict diamonds I was not prepared for what I was about to embark on. I learned that these diamonds that are supposed to represent love and riches are actually fuel for warfare, abuse of civil rights, and violence.
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.
Although the Kimberley Process says that 99% of all diamonds are conflict free, diamonds from the Central African Republic, Angola, and Zimbabwe, the countries where diamond related violence has occurred in recent years, make up at least 10 percent of the diamond supply or more and they have not been reported (“Blood Diamond
The unique nature of diamond is heavily dependent upon its composition, crystal structure, and mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic properties.1 Of those dependencies, composition exacts the most influence over the characteristics. Crystal structure is the repeating pattern of diamond’s composition, and each of the properties are the result of molecular interaction which is determined by composition. Therefore, composition is paramount in the determination of the qualities of diamond.
I have found quite a few sources on the JSTOR in terms of the economic side of diamonds, and the reality and science behind man-made diamonds, something I would like to inform the reader of. There are also many sources that describe the unfortunate reality of how this market has become very involved in not only child-labor, but also civil wars, human rights violations, environmental consequences and overall mass violence in the continental African region. Dilemmas I would like to very deeply go into. There are also many articles on the web, written by respectable economic sources such as Priconomics, HuffingtonPost, and NPR, and TheAtlantic, which cover the social implications of diamonds, the history behind their worth, and marketing strategies of diamonds. All which is important to know to get to the mystery of the worth of diamonds. There are also a couple sources looking into this psycho-sociological aspect of diamonds in the psychology section of the library database, and quite a few articles on Google-Scholar, these articles can provide me a look on the sociological and psychological aspect of diamonds, to determine why we indulge in buying diamonds, what norms have been set in the marriage department, and the social esteem of buying diamonds, I would like to look at all these things to point to the bigger picture of the real worth of diamonds, and who sets