Lecture 28 Summary and Notes

Blood Diamonds Presentation- Key points from the lecture (summarized by J Jimenez)

Five important themes
1. How and where diamonds form
2. Diamond industry and production
3. Civil War in Sierra Leone and origins of “Blood Diamonds”
4. World response to war and blood diamond trafficking

You should be familiar with the following:

>> The four ways diamonds can form
1. Through volcanic eruptions and rise to the surface at rapid speeds through kimberlite pipes
2. In subduction zones
3. When an asteroid strikes Earth
4. Nanodiamonds form on meteorites in space when they collide
a. All these processes require carbon rich material, high heat, and high pressure

>>The five characteristics of a diamond
1. Most durable mineral
2. Highly stable bonds
3. Hardest mineral
4. High thermal conductivity
5. Cubic crystal system
*Note that diamonds come in different colors depending on the minerals they mix with.

>>Where diamonds are in the world generally
1. Can you name the top diamond producing countries? Answer: (Botswana, Russia, Angola, Canada, Congo, South Africa….)
2. Do you know the names of the major diamond mines? Answer: (Orapa Mine, Argyle Mine, and the Kimberley Mine)

>> The mining pipeline
1. What are the stages of the mining pipeline? Answer: (Exploration, mining, sorting, cutting & polishing, jewelry manufacturing, and retailing)
2. What are the most common mining methods of diamonds? Answer: (Open pit mining, underground mining, coastal and inland (alluvial) mining, and marine mining)
*You should be able to briefly describe these different mining methods
3. What are the main uses of diamonds? Answer: (30% used for jewelry & 70% for industrial purposes)
4. What is the Kimberly process? (Answer: this is part of your homework assignment, but in general it is a certification process to regulate the import/export of rough diamonds and is a mandated by the United Nations with the goal of keeping out conflict diamonds in trade)

>> Civil War in Sierra Leone
1. What sides are at war? Answer: (Different groups at different times, but the main actors include the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Sierra Leone Army (SLA), and the United Nation’s UNAMSIL—the UN’s largest and most expensive deployment of United Nations Peacekeepers in history.

A homework assignment was handed out at the end of class and is due Monday, March 26th. Also, there will be a quiz this Friday, March 23rd on the lecture and the reading assignment.

Check back on Thursday for Friday's reading assignment.