Civil society group flays diamond watchdog over Russia stalemate
Reuters The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition on Monday sharply criticised the global diamond watchdog for resisting efforts to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at this week’s international conflict diamond meeting began in Botswana. A rift has emerged within the Kimberley Process – a coalition of governments, the diamond industry and the umbrella coalition representing […]
Top producer Russia thwarts move to redefine “conflict diamonds”
Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters Russia has torpedoed a Western-backed proposal to discuss whether its diamonds are funding war ahead of an international conflict diamond meeting in Botswana, letters seen by Reuters show. The rift in the Kimberley Process, which certifies rough diamond exports, risks paralysing the body which makes decisions by consensus. A view shows […]
South African ‘diamond rush’ unearths only quartz crystals, officials say
Johannesburg, South AfricaReuters Unidentified stones that lured thousands of fortune seekers to a rural South African village to mine the land with picks and shovels were not diamonds as hoped, officials said on Sunday, but quartz stones with relatively low, if any, value. People from across South Africa travelled to KwaHlathi in the country’s eastern […]
‘Diamond rush’ grips South African village after discovery of unidentified stones
KwaHlathi, South AfricaReuters More than 1,000 fortune seekers on Monday flocked to the village of KwaHlathi in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province in search of what they believed to be diamonds after a discovery of unidentified stones in the area. The people travelled from across South Africa to join villagers who have been digging since Saturday, after a herd man who dug up […]
DEATH BY DIAMONDS: SUICIDES WIPE THE SHINE OFF INDIA’S GEM TRADE
In a special in-depth investigative report, ROLI SRIVASTAVA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how pattern of suicides – many shrouded in silence – is blighting an industry that cuts and polishes 90 per cent of gems sold globally…