Over 99 Percent of Traded Diamonds Now Conflict Free

Mining Weekly reported that, according to Susan Shabangu, South Africa’s minister of mining, over 99 percent of the diamonds currently being traded are conflict free. That’s a fairly large jump from about 85 percent during the 1990s.

As quoted in the market news:

 According to the KPCS profile on its website, as at November, about 54 members, representing 80 countries, accounted for about 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds.

‘Conflict diamonds are a cause for concern for some legitimate governments and the [reason for] continuous growth of [the] Kimberley Process (KP) participants, who voluntarily abide by its norms and standards,’ she said.

The Minister also reiterated the drive to increase the number of members within the KPCS and aimed to aid countries that needed time to become fully compliant with the KP requirements to trade their diamonds.

Click here to read the full Mining Weekly report.