Conflict free diamonds and dirty gold

Thanks to the movie Blood Diamond, people are aware of the ecological and human cost of diamond mining. More people are also becoming aware of the same problems with gold mining.

Brilliantearth says:

"Many of the world’s diamonds are harvested using practices that exploit and degrade children, communities, the labor force, and the local environment. Workers are subject to brutality, degrading working conditions, low pay and sometimes death. Consider the facts: over 1 million diamond diggers in Africa are paid less than $1 a day, living in poverty and working in dangerous conditions. Many of the diamond workers in Africa are children under the age of 16, accounting for between 30-50% of the workforce in countries like the Congo, Angola, and Sierra Leone. Local communities in Angola are being tortured by local diamond companies in an effort to force them off the diamond rich land, while the government turns a blind eye".

There is some controversy that the ethical diamond trade is being used as a cover for more exploitation.

There is a wikipedia article, which at least has some citations) about conflict diamonds which discusses the Kimberley certification process flaws, and the Canadian policies. There are also issues about indigenous treaties and mining.

A new form of offset is "conflict neutral", similar to carbon neutral, you can offset the cost. The same Wiki says:

"Sales of rough diamonds are controlled by the Kimberley Process. This is under the approval of the UN and its purpose is to regulate the trade in Blood diamonds. Unfortunately it is not yet totally successful with Global Witness estimating that between 0.5% and 20% of all diamonds sold as certified conflict-free under the Kimberley Process are still blood diamonds. The value of these diamonds is very high but it is the human cost which is most significant. Blood Diamonds are so called because they are sold to fund wars. However, it is not only the people in conflicts who suffer. Many diamond mines operate in terrible conditions with no running water and a large amount of child labour. Conflict Neutral can never compensate for the millions of lives lost but it can help to provide healthcare and education to return dignity to the lives of people affected". Conflict-free sapphires are also now available.

See also:
Canadian First Nations and diamond mining
The Keilburgers on the diamond trade
Wiki on Blood Diamonds
NoDirtyGold
Fairjewelery a useful blog by a fair trade jewelry designer

Short List of ethical ring suppliers:

Agreenbride.com, ethical rings