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Events/Law or policy · 2003

Kimberley Process Certification Scheme comes into force

Law or policy, Signed at Interlaken in late 2002; in force 2003, Switzerland.

What happened

After two years of talks the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was launched and signed by 37 participants at Interlaken, Switzerland. It came into force in 2003.1,2

Why it matters

It sets rules to keep conflict diamonds out of the legal supply chain.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Argyle diamond pipe AK1 found

    It became the world's largest diamond producer by volume.3,4,5

  2. Jwaneng diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The Botswana diamond mine is dated to 1982 in Wikidata.6

  3. Diamonds found at Lac de Gras

    The find led to Ekati, Canada's first diamond mine.7,8

  4. Kimberley Process Certification Scheme comes into force

    It sets rules to keep conflict diamonds out of the legal supply chain.1,2

  5. Argyle diamond mine ends mining

    It ended the main source of rare pink diamonds.3,5

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Where next

Mines

An example ofCatocaCatoca alone makes over 80 per cent of Angola's diamond output.9

Events

An example ofDiamonds found at Lac de GrasCanada's diamond rush began in 1991. The Kimberley Process followed in 2003.7

Sources

  1. What is the Kimberley Process?
  2. Interlaken (item Q68103), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. The iconic Argyle diamond mine delivers its final production (3 Nov 2020) Rio Tinto
  4. Diamonds (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  5. Argyle diamond mine (item Q652475), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Wikidata item Q4160014 (Jwaneng diamond mine)
  7. History of Diamonds in the NWT Government of the Northwest Territories
  8. Lac de Gras (item Q1799623), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. 2020-21 Minerals Yearbook, Angola (advance release) US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0.