Reconnaissance Investigation of the Rough Diamond Resource Potential and Production Capacity of Cote d'Ivoire.

摘要

Ethnic and political conflict developed into open civil war in Cote dIvoire in 2002, leading to a de facto partitioning of the country into the government-controlled south and the rebel-controlled north. Cote dIvoires two main diamond mining areas, Seguela and Tortiya, are located in the north, under what was, until recently, rebel-controlled territory. In an effort to prevent proceeds from diamond mining from funding the conflict, the United Nations (UN) placed an embargo on the export of rough diamonds from Cote dIvoire in 2005. That same year, the Kimberley Process (KP), the international initiative charged with stemming the flow of conflict diamonds, acted to enforce this ban by adopting the Moscow Resolution on Cote dIvoire, which contained measures to prevent the infiltration of Ivorian diamonds into the legitimate global rough diamond trade. Though under scrutiny by the international community, diamond mining activities continued in Cote dIvoire, with artisanal miners exploiting both alluvial deposits in fluvial systems and primary kimberlitic dike deposits. However, because of the embargo, there has been no official record of diamond production since the conflict began in 2002. This lack of production statistics represents a significant data gap and hinders efforts by the KP to understand how illicitly produced diamonds may be entering the legitimate trade.