Diamonds are Forever?

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Diamonds are Forever?

• Case Study of Diamond Mining in Africa and
  Consumer Demands
• Group A

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Diamonds in American Society
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What do diamonds represent?
Love
Beauty
Money
Worth
Rarity
Marriage
Prestige
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Two Main Points

• Diamonds are not inherently valuable, but have
  socially constructed meanings
• What we think about diamonds, and what diamonds
  represent are very closely monitored by the
  diamond industry, and are often solely
  constructed by that industry.

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Myth Diamonds are rare jewels

• Fact Diamonds are abundant
• Fact Diamond corporations use a tactic called
  managed scarcity to limit the number of
  diamonds on the market, making them appear to be
  rare, when in fact they are not

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Why do diamonds represent love and marriage?

• Because the industry created this association.
• Diamonds are not only a visual indicator of
  socioeconomic status, but also serve to separate
  people based on the lines of gender, sexuality,
  and race

http//www.youtube.com/watch?v4vXHm8TzLzE
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Marketing of Diamonds

• Diamonds have different meanings for men than
  they do for women

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Diamond ads foster stereotypes about women

• They are shallow
• They can be bought
• They are both proper, and highly sexual

http//www.youtube.com/watch?vebo2T32tHdA
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Diamonds in the media are consistently worn by
heterosexuals

• In this way, the diamond industry perpetuates the
  phenomenon of compulsory heterosexuality

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Diamonds perpetuate racialized meanings of
whiteness
WHITEGOOD
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Diamonds in Advertising

• Diamonds perpetuate a hegemonic notion of what
  people should look like, and be like
• People who wear diamonds in the media are
  predominantly rich, white, heterosexual, and
  attractive.

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The diamond industry may present and perpetuate
ridiculous ideals, but its worst offense is not
what happened here in the U.S., but the human
rights abuses and environmental degradation that
it inflicts in places where diamonds are
produced
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Diamond Mining and the Environment
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A Brief Geology Lesson

• Diamonds are formed deep in the earth and
  carried upward, amid vast quantities of magma, in
  very forceful volcanic eruptions.

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Location of Mines
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Pipe Mining

• The most common type of diamond deposit is known
  as a primary deposit and usually occurs near a
  volcanic pathway connecting Earths deep mantle
  to its surface, known as a pipe
• Pipe mining refers to the extraction of diamonds
  from volcanic pipes. Typically, a very large area
  has to be covered. An average of 250 tons of ore
  must be mined in order to produce a one-carat gem
  quality polished diamond.

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Alluvial Mining

• Diamonds are also found in secondary or alluvial
  deposits diamond-bearing pipes are subject to
  natural weathering and erosion and some material
  washes downhill and downstream, ending up in
  riverbeds and along existing and ancient
  shorelines, where loose diamonds tend to
  accumulate
• This process involves the extraction of diamonds
  intermixed with silt, sand, and gravel along
  banks and shores of streams, rivers, lakes, and
  oceans.

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Types of Alluvial Mining

• In Sierra Leone the technology involves shovel
  and pan, with some hand sloshing to gravitate
  diamond to the bottom of the pan so that it can
  be sorted out.
• Panning is the simplest form of alluvial mining.
  The miner scoops sand, gravel, and water into a
  shallow pan and shakes it with a rotary motion to
  wash out the sand and gravel. Heavy minerals
  settle to the bottom of the pan.
• In order to extract these diamonds from beaches,
  a wall is built to hold back the surf. Up to 25
  meters of sand is bulldozed aside to reach the
  diamond-bearing level. Once reached, the
  diamond-bearing earth is removed and transported
  to screening plants.

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Alluvial mining by traditional methods
continues, as seen here in Sierra Leone.
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Open-pit Mining

• Alluvial mining is also done by the open-pit
  method. The process involves removing the
  overlying barren ground, digging up the bearing
  ground, and then extracting the diamonds.
• It occurs where the overburden (surface material
  covering the valuable deposit) is relatively thin
  or the material of interest is structurally
  unsuitable for tunneling.

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Diagram of Pit
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Open Pit Mines

• Open-pit mines are typically enlarged until the
  mineral resource is exhausted.
• When they are no longer productive for
  extraction of material, open-pit mines are
  sometimes converted to landfills for disposal of
  solid wastes. However, some form of water control
  is usually required to keep the mine pit from
  becoming a lake.

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Environmental Problems

• The diversion of rivers to allow for the mining
  of alluvial diamond deposits.
• After the mining is completed, the rivers are not
  redirected to their original courses which in
  turn results in the pollution of waters and
  destruction of surrounding flora and fauna.
• The mining activities also degrade the
  surrounding land
• Increasing atmospheric air pollution
• Contaminating surface and ground water
• The inhabitants of the region are suffering from
  sickness and disease related to contaminated
  drinking water supplies.
• Such diseases include dysentery, Malaria,
  schistosamiases and Biomphalaria pfeiffer.
• Increasing soil erosion and leaching
• Pollution leads to desertification

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Rehabilitation

• Reclamation plans include many of the following
  concerns drainage control, preservation of top
  soil (so that vegetation can be planted),
  segregation of waste material, erosion and
  sediment control, solid waste disposal, and
  restoration of waste and mine areas. The plan
  must also consider the effects of vibration
  (induced by mining, processing, or transport),
  and impact on surface water and groundwater.
• They must save the fill removed from the pit
  (overburden) to refill pits once mining has ceased

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Angola

• War and debt have sustained environmentally
  damaging mining techniques
• The government feels it has to choose between
  the environment and profit

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Small-Scale Mining in Sierra Leone

• The environmental impact of small-scale diamond
  mining activities is severe
• After an area is mined the land is left exposed
  and degraded, unsuitable for farming or any other
  activity.
• Water collects and stagnates in the dug-out areas
  contributing to health hazards, potentially
  increasing the incidence of malaria and other
  water borne diseases.
• Mining activities cause heavy siltation in river
  beds and creeks, which reduces coastal coral and
  fish populations that feed and breed in it.
  Toxic wastes in the water sources contaminate
  marine life making them unfit for human
  consumption.
• Lack of land-ownership traditions enables people
  to be short-sighted about environmental concerns

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Diamond mining village in West Africa. Mud brick
huts with thatched roof, no electricity or
running water.
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The Ruin of Riches

• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid8050191813
  68051929qdiamondminehlen
• start at 254-340

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Realities of Diamond Mining
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vxoqPytAIj9Y
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The Environmental and Humanitarian Aspects of War
"The war is not tribal, and it is not religious.
It is simply largely a war over control of
diamonds. Little pieces of rock that people
around the world like to wear on their fingers
and hang from their ears.  As you can see,
because of these rocks I no longer have an ear or
five of my fingers." - Statement of Muctar
Jalloh, 27 year old leader of a group of amputees
from Sierra Leone
http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid-285319729
4913050281qconflictdiamondshlen
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Diamond Wars

• Three major incidents of diamond wars in Africa
• Sierra Leone
• Angola
• Democratic Republic of Congo

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Sierra Leone

• RUFbacked by Liberian government
• Revolutionary movement funded through
  Diamond/Arms trade
• Message Leave control of country to Sierra
  Leoneans
• Responsible for the death of over 75,000
  civilians
• Displaced 50 of civilian population

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Attack on Civilian Population

• Operation No Living Thing
• -loot, destroy, kill anything in path
• Operation Pay Yourself
• -roadblocks where possessions are taken

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RUFs Human Rights Violations

• Human Rights Watch Accounts for countless
  reported human rights violations
• Amputation
• Lacerations from Machetes
• Gunshot wounds
• Gouging of Eyes
• Genital Mutilation
• Injections with Acid
• Beating

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RUFs Objective

• Fear will force civilians to support the RUF in
  obtaining full political and military control
• Civilians are told to bring amputated limbs to
  Kabbah government to send a message to leave the
  country

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RUFS Human Rights Violations

• Sexual Slavery of Young Women
• Abduction and Drugging of Children
• Forced Labor
• Forced Displacement
• Razing and Destruction of Entire Villages
• Major Burn Wounds from Explosions

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Angola

• Since mid 1980s MLPA legitimate control of
  government (Jose dos Santos)
• UNITA main oppositional force
• UNITA has captured a majority of diamond mines
  the source for
• -money
• -arms
• -fuel
• The best and highest quality diamonds in the
  world

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Freelance and Corporate Mining Conflicts

• Garimperios freelance miners
• Operation Brilliant Angolan governmental
  deportation and murder of freelance
  workers/smugglers of diamonds
• Illegal mining often only jobs available
• -inhuman working conditions
• -risks of expulsion, rape, detention, murder,
  brutally
• Perpetrated by Angolan police and security
  funded by large mining corporations

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Democratic Republic of Congo

• We all know that they the illegal miners dont
  do it for the sake of doing it. There is no
  alternative to that. And when we see bodies
  floating in the river, or survivors hiding their
  injuries for fear of reprisals by the
  authorities, you just have the feeling that these
  young people are being killed like dogs. They
  dont have any rights. And no one takes any
  action to address the issue. Everything is calm
  and life goes on.
• In similar attempts to remove freelance diamond
  miners, especially in Mbuji-Mayi dozens are shot
  and killed daily.
• Others seriously wounded
• Many, including children detained without charge
  in appalling conditions

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Effects of War on Environment

• Three Environments to Consider
• Physical Environment
• -Weather/Climate
• -Soil Conditions
• -Vegetation
• -Water Source
• -Human Infrastructure (water supply/sanitation)
• -Transportation

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Effects of War on Environment

• Chemical Environment
• Quality of
• -Air
• -Land
• -Water
• Biological Environment
• -Micro and Macro Organisms

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Effects of War on Environment
War Machinery
Ammunition Unexploded Mines
Damage to Wildlife
Death to Wildlife Damage to Soil Damage to
Vegetation
Damage to Soil
Noise Crushed Dens Crushed Animals Damage to
Vegetation Loss of Insect Fauna
Erosion Compaction Loss of Seed Bank Loss of
Forage Loss of Perennial Shrubs
Waste Products
Hazard Pollution Threat to Wildlife Disruption of
Energy Flow in Natural Habitat
Food Chain Disturbed
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Specific Instances of Environmental Impact

• Demand of soldiers and displaced people on
  natural resources (food, shelter, water)
• White phosphorus sediment from exploded
  munitions poising water supply
• Unexploded landmines
• Endangered species being hunted for bush meat
• Increase of disease ( outbreak of Monkeypox and
  bubonic plague)
• Large scale destruction of infrastructure

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Diamond Wars
http//www.doc-nature.com/fortemflowersgem/images/
diamond.jpg http//game.china.com/zh_cn/hotspot/C
ounter-Strike/image/Arms/ak47.jpg
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http//ttt.pugetsoundcenter.org/projects/1998/web
/safrica/Images/South20Africa20map.jpg
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• www.marksolomonjewellers.co.za/sahistory.html

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• www.notablebiographies.com/.../Rhodes-Cecil.html
• www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/.../browning/index.html

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• http//www.sahistory.org.za/pages/specialprojects/
  anglo-boer-wars/anglo-boer-war1ii.htm

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First Anglo-Boer War, 1881Battle of Majuba
Hill www.winstonisback.com/.../BritishEmpire5.html

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www.sahistory.org.za/.../anglo-boer-war2i.htm
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www.wwnorton.com/.../ralph/resource/30boer.htm
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www.numberwatch.co.uk/200120March.htm
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http//users.westconnect.com.au/ianmac5/abw3.jpg
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• www.boer.co.za/boerwar/hellkamp.htm
• www.boer.co.za/boerwar/hellkamp.htm

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ANGOLA
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http//media.maps.com/magellan/Images/ANGOLA-W1.gi
f
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www.msu.edu/.../iss/325/stein/protractedwar.htm
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• www.publicintegrity.org/bow/report.aspx?aid152

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Caught between a Sparkling Rock and a hard place

• Resource Crisis Thesis The For and Against
  Arguments
• Taken from Taking Sides Clashing Views on
  African Issues, 2nd ed. By William G. Moseley.

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Resource Crisis Thesis

• Posits that countries with great natural
  resource wealth have a tendency to grow more
  slowly than resource-poor countries.

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Two types of problems frequently linked to
resource abundance in African countries

• Resource abundance may lead to a simplification
  or concentration of national economies, with
  increasing dependence on a single export mineral
  or fuel
• Civil conflict rival groups may fight for
  control of key resources and then finance their
  military aggression through proceeds from the
  sale of these resources

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For Sunday DareA Continent in Crisis Africa
and Globalization
While Africa has been undoubtedly blessed
with an abundance of natural resources, Dare
states that much sorrow has flowed. With such
abundance comes also struggles for political
control, social emancipation, and access to
resources, a lack of African leadership, and the
role of prey to transnational corporations (TNCs)
who have exploited Africa and manipulated
governments and the media.
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TNCs and the African State

• Dictatorial control in Africa
• Lacking technological capacity to harness
  resources
• Weak economies
• The goal of maximizing profits

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Economic Exploitation in Africa

• Globalization optimism versus pessimism
• Africas increasing dependence on imported
  capital and consumer goods and services
• TNCs grip on African economies

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Against Oliver Maponga and Philip Maxwell The
Fall and Rise of African Mining

• Maponga and Maxwell hold that by expanding the
  resource sector in Africa, the growth and
  development of many African nations will
  flourish. But that we cannot tell completely, as
  the independence of Africa is still new since
  the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, the
  1990s is the only period that Africa has been
  self-reliant.
• -- the African mineral industry is still in
  infancy

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Use of statistics to display a growth in Africa

• Life expectancy
• Daily calorie supply
• Mineral exploration spending
• Foreign interests in Africa

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Factors that played a role in facilitating a
re-emergency of African minerals and energy

• The modernization of mining regimes through new
  legislation, formal mineral policy statements and
  observation of international agreements
• Availability of investment insurance
• Greater political stability in several
  prospective nations
• A movement of privatization of state mining
  companies and
• Changed conditions in home countries which have
  led to international expansion.

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International Technical Assistance Programs

• World Bank
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• Institutions from other countries (Britain,
  France, Belgium, US, and Canada)
• Ex. OPIC (United States), Export Development
  Corporation (Canada)

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To determine an international competitive
advantage

• Factor conditions. As well as mineral endowment,
  these include the quality of human and knowledge
  resources, the availability of capital and the
  quality of infrastructure.
• Home demand conditions and the potential for
  their growth
• The presence of and development of related and
  supporting industries, and
• Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry
• to progress, the developing nations face the
  daunting task of upgrading all four parts of the
  national diamond sufficiently to reach the
  threshold necessary to compete in advanced
  industries.

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Corporations and Lethal Conflict

• Wars and conflicts in Africa
• Scrutinizing of TNCs
• Sierra Leone
• Foday Sankoh and the Revolutionary United Front
  (RUF)
• The RUF and the diamond industry