Marilyn Monroe’s famous line “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” is glamorously known worldwide. It is true that diamonds is what every girl desires for. Diamonds signifies to consumer’s wealth and glamour and are generally associated to gift one another or symbolize romance, marriage, and purity. However, despite how appealing a diamond is, its worth could be someone’s life. This is known as blood diamond or conflict diamond. A blood diamond is a diamond mined from a war zone and sold generally to help a rebel or invading army’s war efforts to gain more weapon and armed goods. Consumers are becoming more aware about the illegal diamond trade through the Kimberly process and the restrictions on diamonds in war zones. Hence, this paper argues that diamonds are a universal desire and through the Kimberly Process, the diamond industry has become more ethical and provides benefits to other regions around the world.
India is deemed to be the hub of the global jewellery market because of its low costs and availability of high-skilled labour. India is the world’s largest cutting and polishing centre for diamonds, with the cutting and polishing industry being well supported by government policies. Moreover, India exports 95 per cent of the world’s diamonds, as per statistics from the Gems and Jewellery Export promotion Council (GJEPC). The industry is projected to generate up to US$ 35 billion of revenue from exports in 2015.
Diamonds are made of carbon so they form as carbon atoms under a high temperature and pressure; they bond together to start growing crystals. Diamonds are formed underneath the Earth’s surface requiring them to be mined for, which can be a very high labor task. Out of the top ten countries in the world with the most diamonds, Africa has six of those countries (Said, Sammy. “Top Ten Countries with the Most Diamonds Found”). With six African countries being among the world leaders in diamond mining and exportation brings a lot of controversy. Some of these African countries have already been banned in the past from mining and exporting diamonds for many human rights violations. Angola is one of the world’s leading exporters of diamonds. Just
Adding to that, diamond mining produces many jobs and economic growth (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Globally, ten million people are employed due to the diamond industry (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Most diamonds come from less developed countries (Diamond Facts website, 2016). These countries use the revenue produced by diamond mining to better their country (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Much of the revenue goes to building infrastructure like hospitals, schools, roads, and clean water systems (Diamond Facts website, 2016). The diamond trade produces eight point four billion dollars to Africa (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Countries within Africa such as Botswana and Namibia have evidenced that profits from diamonds aid less developed countries have substantial benefits like economic growth and stability (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Profits from mining diamonds has shown to play an important role in turning war-torn countries into economically stable places (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Botswana has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, chiefly due to the diamond industry (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Without diamond mining, Botswana would lose three billion dollars in profits per year (Diamond Facts website, 2016). The result would be devastating to
Diamonds have been considered valuable since they were found. To understand the diamond industry we must first look at when they were discovered and where they are mined. Although, the first diamonds discovered were not mined but found in alluvial deposits along the banks of Orange River in India around 4000 BC. It’s interesting to think that in both India and Africa the first diamonds were found above ground and not through any
Have you ever glanced at your ring finger and admired the beautiful diamond on it? Now have you ever wondered where that diamond came from or how many lives were affected just to get it? Those are the questions you should ask yourself the next time you visit your local jewelry store for a visit. People worldwide should make an effort to stop buying conflict diamonds. They are funding wars in Africa everyday. Workers working in the mining business are in a danger zone. Innocent men, women, and children are getting caught in between the conflict and are being forced to work. If people would stop buying conflict diamonds from conflict areas, Africa would be a better and more productive place.
Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations on earth second to last on the United Nations human development index. The first mine was established in the town of Kimberley by two farmers; the De Beers Brothers. (BloodDiamondsDocumentary) The De Beers sold diamonds at least ten times per year in London’s open market and controlled at least 90% of the world’s diamond production bringing in billions of dollars per year. The average person brings in about $220 per year income yet the nation remains rich in natural resources. (BloodDiamondsDocumentary) Places like Botswana, South Africa, Canada, and Russia are the largest diamond producing nations in the world with more than 20 tons produced per year and a revenue that equates to about 60 billion dollars per year with half of the merchandise being sold right here in the United States.
The former Soviet Union was the 3rd largest diamond producer in the world and had traditionally sold most diamonds to DeBeers since the 1950s. Following the discovery of over 500 kimberlite pipes in the region, De Beers’ Central Selling Organization (CSO) struck a deal with Larose, the Russian central government’s joint-venture with the Sakha Republic. At the time, the region produced approximately 98% of the then-USSR’s diamonds (PR Bain Report: The Global Diamond Industry, 2011).
Before a diamond leaves a jewelry shop, it goes through five stages. First, it is mined and purchased. De Beers Group of Companies is the leading company that does this. It is the leading company in diamond exploration, diamond mining, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. Second stage involves the sorting of the stones into its different sizes and qualities. These rough diamonds go through the diamond centers in Antwerp, London, Lucerne, New York, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Bombay and Dubai. At the third stage, these stones are cut and polished. Then, after which, these diamonds are manufactured (fourth stage) and marketed (fifth stage).
The name "diamond" comes from the Greek word, "adamas" meaning unconquerable. Fittingly diamonds are made of pure carbon, and diamonds are the hardest natural substance known to man.[1] Diamonds have long been a sign of wealth and fortune. Kings and queens have worn these forms of concentrated carbon and even more countless millions people over time have lusted after them. These gems can be transparent, truculent white, yellow, green, blue, or brown. To understand the value of these stones, and ultimately their role in war, it helps to first understand their origins and where they come form.
The diamond cartel is the most successful and long-lasting cartel in history. The cartel created a scarcity for diamond and stabilized the prices at a high level. This essay will be discussing the validity of the statement with reference to the market of the diamond industry, history of the diamond cartel, how the price of diamonds is determined, and the implications thereof.
We see clearly in the movie how the factors of production is used: land, labour, and entrepreneurship. Land is the resource where diamonds are found, and in Blood Diamond we see how the RUF uses a form of alluvial mining and open pit mining on the land. The men would find the diamonds by digging and shoveling in rocks that are eroded by rivers and streams. The result of this is disastrous to the land because of the enormous amount of soil that is removed to obtain the diamond. Also wasted rocks from the mining can leak harmful substances back into the water. Blood Diamond did an admirable job at depicting the realities of how
For many people over generations the diamond has been a symbol of power, beauty, luxury, uniqueness, and everlasting pure love. For others the diamond has been a symbol of conflict, death, exploitation, misery, and blood shade. All the glamour and beauty attributed to diamonds might be blinding us to the impacts of its operations in Africa. In this paper we will go through a research journey to find out more about the positive and negative impacts of diamond mining in Africa and the diamond industry. Also, this research paper will highlight
New diamond discoveries resulted in diamonds that were out of De Beer’s control. In addition to this Russia, which used to be a part of De Beers monopoly, sold some of its stock directly into the market. In mid-2000, De Beers abandoned its control of the world’s supply of diamonds after dominating the industry for over 80 years.
Diamonds have become the ultimate symbol of luxury and money and are highly valued throughout the world today. However, in the spectrum of time diamonds have served a variety of other purposes. Diamonds were formed 3.3 billion years ago by extreme heat and pressure within the earth and are formed entirely out of carbon, making it the hardest natural surface known to man (debeers.com). Archaeologists believe that early humans actually used diamonds as spear heads and other tools. However, over time diamonds have become a luxury good, connected with much prestige. The high status of diamonds helped create the diamond rush that would forever alter the fate of South Africa.