Diamond Mining in Africa

The history of mining diamond in Africa can be traced back to the nineteenth century when a Dutch’s son discovered twenty-two-carat diamonds in southern Africa. It was the first time a known diamond mineral revealed in Africa. Several years later, some more precious diamond carats were discovered, bringing to the attention of the miners in South Africa treating the stones as the valuable minerals. 2 The diamond mining in Africa has a developed history to the current situation. Countries that have benefitted in owning various diamond mining grounds have several benefits from the precious mineral since when exported, the nation helps from large foreign exchanges. With the approximate weight of three thousand carats, the Cullinan diamond is known to be the largest precious gemstone.

Cullinan first discovered in southern Africa in the twentieth century. Later divided into smaller parts with the most massive size referred to as the Great Star of Africa. Out of the polished diamond in the world, it ranks at the second place. The minor sun of Africa is another part of a smaller size of Cullinan diamond which weighs approximately three hundred carats. Lesotho Promise As the name suggests, this type of diamond was discovered and mined in Lesotho at the Letseng diamond mines. It is one of the newly gemstone found in Africa in the year 2006. It only weighed six hundred carats and later separated into smaller pieces. Kimberley Diamond From the name suggestion, Kimberley Diamond discovered in Kimberley mines in South Africa.

It weighs fifty-five carats with the highest value. The owner has displayed the gem in a promotional photograph in the neck of Aubrey Hepburn. Blue Garnet Lastly, the blue garnet is another precious gemstone discovered in Africa, even though garnets exists in various colors, it is the oldest type of diamond among the garnets it found in Madagascar at the Bekily mines. Countries Producing Diamonds in Africa. In Africa, various countries have the precious gemstone in their lands, most of the nations with the diamond mining grounds mainly found in Southern Africa. These nations include Angola, Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, and Lesotho. Jwaneng pipe and Orapa Mines considered the wealthiest diamond companies in the world were consequently created after the De Beers, which was the first diamond industry in the nation.

The government of Botswana merged with the first company to own half of the company, and therefore the name was later changed to depict the image of the nation. The diamond companies in Botswana have helped in supporting the nation’s economy and the source of foreign exchanges. The infrastructure and the communication in the mining areas have supported the development in the remote regions hence improving the living standards of the individuals. Different from other nations producing diamond, Botswana has not participated in any conflict related to diamond production. Several years after the discovery, the Belgian firm started the conventional mining diamond in the area. The leadership later transformed the mines from private ownership to public property in 1973. In Democratic Republic of Congo diamond were also mined in small scales by the families and individuals applying essential equipment such as traps and sieves in the mining activities.

Just like the situation in Angola, the diamond mining promoted conflicts since the diamond traders sold the diamond to fund the armed chaos. The United Nations organization, therefore, prevented the critical condition by stopping the trade of diamond by the rebels group to cut off the funds used to facilitate the conflict. Till an achievement of a stable social state, even though it is a member of Kimberley Process, the products from Ivory Coast are not marketed since the production of diamond has not settled correctly, due to the conflicts and the depletion of the mineral. Kimberley Process is also a firm that assures the customers of a secure source of diamond, of which Ivory Coast does not attain their objectives.

8 Diamond in Namibia Namibia is one of the leading producers of a precious type of diamond in Africa. It is also among one of the leading nations producing a diamond. A former worker from the Kimberley diamond mining fields discovered diamond in this nation in the Namib Desert. The United Nations, therefore, responded by stopping the trade. Later, Sierra Leon joined Kimberly Process, a firm responsible for preventing conflict diamond trade from the legitimate diamond supply chain. Diamond in South Africa South Africa in one of the leading nation in the production of diamond in Africa. A twenty-two-carat diamond further discovered in the Orange River and couples of years later, the alluvial deposits of diamond found around the riverbanks between orange and Vaal Rivers.

Large deposits then discovered in Kimberley that led to the diamond rush for the mining activities and by 1872, there was evidence of open queries resulting from continuous diamond mining activities. Industrialization also resulted as a decisive factor boosted by the availability of the diamond. It led to the creation of job opportunities both directly and indirectly to the industries and the mining fields. By creating the employment opportunities, living standards are improved by the reasonable daily income due to the high worth of the diamond products. Diamond mining in Africa has also benefitted individuals by promoting various development projects such as the developed transport and communication networks around the production areas. Therefore, the production and mining of diamond helps the continent as it promotes the development programs.