These are the illegal miners who are in constant battles with the government to obtain legal mining permits
Illegal miners, who have been fighting to get mining permits, risk arrest and even death in confrontations between the police and security firms
Children in the Northern Cape leave school to dig for the gemstones, which, for many households, is a way of survival
But the new artisanal and small-scale mining policy may be a turning point for informal prospectors who want to mine legally
“I’m willing to take a bullet” says Northern Cape natives who claim the land, and its diamonds, belong to them.
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/ 30 October 2003
The UN Security Council was to meet on Thursday to discuss a report on the booming trade in African diamonds and minerals which is continuing to finance what may be the deadliest conflict since World War II.
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/ 19 September 2000
GOVERNMENT ministers and industry leaders from diamond producing and trading countries are meeting in Pretoria to fine-tune agreements banning the sale of diamonds used to finance warfare in Africa. The industry, responding to pressure from human rights movements, established the World Diamond Council in July at a meeting in Antwerp, Belgium. It proposed a system […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Wednesday 11.50am. MINING giant De Beers on Wednesday called for a coordinated international response to stop trade in so-called ”conflict diamonds” which are funding rebel armies in Africa. In a letter to industry leaders ahead of next month’s World Diamond Congress in Antwerp, De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer and Managing Director […]