Loose diamonds can be mined in many areas of the globe. Many areas of the globe have political unrest. Enter the conflict diamonds and war lords. A conflict diamond is a loose diamond that has been mined in a militant environment by dictators or war lords that seek to trade diamonds for weapons and funding. Conflict diamonds are also called blood diamonds. These diamonds are mined under the harshest of conditions. In many cases, men, women and children have been killed by the thousands, in either the mining process, or brutal living conditions associated with their work camps. Diamonds are easy, high value commodities that can be readily transported without detection. This makes them a prime source of currency for buying illegal weapons which in turn allows warlords the means to continue terrorizing and exploiting others. Regions that have noted for these barbaric practices are: Sierre Leone, Angola, Liberia, and The Democratic Republic of Congo.
In 2000, a multinational agreement was first discussed in Kimberley, South Africa in order to stop the sale of conflict diamonds internationally. The location of this meeting was cleverly symbolic as Kimberley was the site of the world's first large scale mining operations, The Kimberly Mine opened in 1871. By 2002, with the help of the diamond industry and all diamond producing nations' worldwide, an agreement was put into effect. The agreement is call the Kimberley Process and it requires that all countries that participate in the agreement require a certificate of origin when buying rough diamonds. This process also states, that funds from the sale of rough diamonds cannot be used to fund conflict or a political nature in any way shape or form. To date, 98% of all diamonds that are mined go through the Kimberley Process. Loose diamonds should be a symbol of love, unity and strength. When buying always make certain that you buy a certified loose diamond as many third party labs respect the process and certify only conflict free diamonds.
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