Factsheet 3Col V 3.5.1

Prepared under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State Summary of the Diamond Resource Potential and Production Capacity Assessment of Guinea The Kimberley Process The team visited diamond mining sites in western Guinea’s Kindia, Forécariah, In May of 2000, a meeting was convened Coyah, and Télimélé Prefectures, in which in Kimberley, South Africa, by representatives the Guinean government identified newly of the diamond industry and leaders of discovered deposits mined by artisans (fig. 1). African governments to develop a certifica- Several mining sites within the Kissidougou tion process intended to assure that export Prefecture in southeastern Guinea were also shipments of rough diamonds were free of visited as part of this study. Geologic and conflict concerns. Outcomes of the meeting geomorphic information on the diamond were formally supported later in December deposits was collected at each site. The of 2000 by the United Nations in a resolu- Figure 2. A presentation given by the USGS fieldwork conducted during this trip served Figure 2. tion adopted by the General Assembly. By for civil society organization representatives as a means of acquiring critical data needed 2002, the Kimberley Process Certification on the methodology used to conduct resource to conduct a full assessment of diamond Scheme (KPCS) was ratified and signed by assessments, June 2011, Conakry, Guinea. resources and production capacity. diamond-producing and diamond-importing countries. As of August 2012, the Kimberley potential and production capacity assess- Process (KP) had 51 participants representing ments of Guinea was explained in detail to 77 countries. the MMG and civil society representatives (fig. 2). Third, the USGS demonstrated Administrative Decision on Guinea methods for conducting fieldwork and data During the Seventh Annual Plenary gathering techniques to members of the MMG Session of the KPCS held in Swakop- and civil society organizations during a trip to mund, Namibia, in November 2009, an the Forécariah Prefecture. Administrative Decision (AD) on Guinea was adopted. The Swakopmund AD was the result Multistakeholder Cooperation of concerns relating to Guinea’s significant increase in diamond exports between the years To address the lack of necessary data, 2006 and 2008, in which production spiked this effort represents a new direction in the from 473,862 carats in 2006 to 1,018,722 KP’s monitoring and evaluation of diamond carats in 2007 and 3,098,490 carats in resources. Multiple stakeholders at several 2008 (Kimberley Process Rough Diamond levels of government and civil society and Figure 1. A bedrock fracture/paleoplacer Statistics, 2006, 2007, 2008). The AD industry cooperated to conduct fieldwork and deposit actively mined by artisans at requested that Guinean authorities relaunch a gather data necessary to produce a country- Férékouré in the Kindia Prefecture of wide diamond assessment. This cooperative system of internal controls, including stopping western Guinea. any exports of rough diamonds of suspicious agreement is conducted with international origin (KPCS Secretariat, 2009). support from the KP and with support from 2011 Training the national government for the organizations CECIDE and CONADOG, which in turn 2010 Field Assessment A team from the USGS made a return trip to Guinea from May 31 through June 4, represent artisanal mining interests, with the With the passing of the AD, the Plenary 2011. The purpose of this trip was threefold. final partner being artisanal miners at the agreed that further efforts should be made to First, the results of the report drafted after local level. assess Guinea’s diamond production capacity the 2010 visit were presented to members of In March of 2012, further fieldwork was (KPCS Secretariat, 2009). In support of the MMG and representatives of civil society conducted by a team composed of Mamadou this objective, the U.S. Geological Survey organizations such as the International Trade Diaby, Coordinator of the Programme (USGS) partnered with the Kimberley Process Centre for Development (CECIDE) and the Exploitation Artisanale de Diamant and the Working Group of Diamond Experts (WGDE) Confédération Nationale des Diamantaires Kimberley Process at CECIDE; Thierno and Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Geology et Orpailleurs de Guinée (CONADOG), Amadou Diallo, Executive Director General (MMG) to conduct a field campaign in Guinea with the support from Partnership Africa of the Brigade Antifraude des Matières from April 24 through May 2, 2010. The field Canada (PAC), the U.S. Embassy, and the Précieuses; and Mahmoud Sano, Chef de team was composed of Mark Van Bockstael of U.S. Agency for International Development Section Exploitation Artisanale Diamant at the the WGDE, Peter Chirico of the USGS, and (USAID). Second, the methodology used by MMG. The team visited five artisanal diamond several geologists from the MMG. the USGS to conduct the diamond resource mining sites in the Kindia and Télimélé U.S. Department of the Interior Printed on recycled paper Fact Sheet 2012–3129 U.S. Geological Survey November 2012 Prefectures. Later that month, the USGS carats that had already been mined, which for Guinea therefore is 480,000 to 720,000 returned and conducted a joint fieldwork was estimated to be 20 million carats. Once carats per year. mission with geologists from CECIDE and subtracted from the total estimated reserves, the MMG and visited seven artisanal diamond the revised total diamond resource came to Conclusion mining sites in the Forécariah and Coyah approximately 40 million carats. Prefectures. The final fieldwork mission was Although preliminary results have been conducted in May 2012 by the Guinean team. Production Capacity Assessment obtained, it is important to note that artisanal diamond mining is a highly dynamic sector, Seventeen artisanal diamond mining sites in The diamond production capacity was the intensively mined Macenta and Kérouané and therefore it is challenging to make firm then estimated by a mathematical formula, production calculations. The results estimated Prefectures of southeastern Guinea were using the following variables: the volume of visited during this mission (fig. 3). in this study, however, were developed through gravel mined per person per day, estimated to an examination of all available information be 0.14 cubic meter; the average gravel grade Diamond Resource Potential concerning Guinea’s diamond deposits of the deposits, estimated to vary regionally and therefore is the best available guide to To conduct the assessment, Guinea’s from 0.08 to 0.2 carats per cubic meter; the assessing Guinea’s diamond deposits. While diamond deposits were first separated into number of days worked per year, estimated data gaps remain, this assessment provides a five “diamondiferous regions,” in order to to be 216; the total number of active artisanal reliable baseline from which other studies may more accurately reflect the geomorphological miners, estimated to be 100,000; and the total be conducted. The summary of the information parameters of each deposit. Hydrologic and industrial production, estimated to be 100,000 here is also a step toward greater informa- geomorphic models were then developed for carats. Applying these variables to the equation tion transparency with respect to alluvial each of the regions. The resource potential resulted in a production capacity of 600,000 diamond resources. was first calculated for the individual regions carats per year. using the following variables: estimated Multiple variables, the values of which References Cited grades, gravel thicknesses, and surface areas were calculated from historical records and of the alluvial flats and terraces. The volume field data, were utilized to arrive at the produc- Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statistics, of the diamondiferous gravel was calculated tion capacity estimates. It is possible that the 2006, Annual global summary—2006 pro- by multiplying the average gravel thickness values of one or more of the variables used duction, imports, exports and KPC counts: by the surface area of the alluvial flats and ter- in the equation may overestimate or under- Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statis- races. Three-quarters of the volume of gravel estimate the situation on the ground. However, tics Web site, accessed October 15, 2012, at was multiplied by the “basic” grade, while the due to the significant amount of data collected https://kimberleyprocessstatistics.org/static/ remaining quarter of the volume was multi- during the multiple fieldwork missions and the pdfs/public_statistics/2006/2006Global plied by the higher “concentration” grade. exhaustive background literature review, the Summary.pdf. The results for each region were then total production capacity likely does not fall Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statistics, totaled, amounting to 60 million carats. below or above 20 percent of the estimated 2007, Annual global summary—2007 pro- The next step was to subtract the number of 600,000 carats. A realistic range of production duction, imports, exports and KPC counts: Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statis- tics Web site, accessed October 15, 2012, at 15°W 12°W 9°W https://kimberleyprocessstatistics.org/static/ SENEGAL MALI pdfs/public_statistics/2007/2007Global Summary.pdf. GUINEA- Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statistics, 12° BISSAU 2008, Annual global summary—2008 pro- N duction, imports, exports and KPC counts: r R Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statis- R ge e Ni r

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