To Find a Diamond

Liberia is full of mines. I don’t mean land mines, I mean mineral mines. Iron ore, gold, and diamonds mines dot the country. The land is rich with mineral wealth, and it is being mined on the large and small scale. Large multi-national companies are busy extracting iron ore by the ton. Trains chug daily along dedicated railways from inland mountains towards busy seaports. Ships steam steadily between Liberia and the Western world. Meanwhile, individual prospectors stake small claims all across the Liberian hinterland, trying to get their own piece of the mineral pie. Recently, we got a chance to see one of these small-scale operations – a diamond mine in rural Bong County.

Our prospecting party

On the way to the diamond mine, I imagined how it might look. I envisioned us arriving at the foot of an imposing mountain, dark tunnels leading into the hillside, dirt-smudged laborers shouldering heavy pickaxes. In reality, the mine was not at all what I expected. After a lengthy hike through the bush, what we saw was a swamp – a large, mucky, Dagobah-like swamp.

There are geological reasons that our quest led us to a swamp. Diamonds are formed deep inside the earth, under intense pressure. Through various means, they are deposited on the earth’s surface. In the case of South Africa, the volcanic spray of diamonds was so heavy that, in certain areas, diamonds littered the ground. One simply had to walk around and pick them up. In West Africa, diamonds are found in alluvial deposits. The shining stones, created far below, are forced up into the hills and mountains through shifts in the Earth’s crust. Over time, rain and erosion carries the diamonds to their current resting place – in rivers and swamps.

The diamond mine and camp is three hours on foot from the nearest town. No cars or motorbikes can reach the area. The narrow path to the mine travels across rivers, through dense forests, over hilly terrain, and through soggy swampland. All food and equipment, including generators, are carried, usually atop someone’s head. For us, it was a challenging hike, even without cargo. I can’t imagine the trip with a fifty-pound bag of rice balanced on my head.

The saint Paul river is one of the main obstacles

The diamond mine, known more accurately as a diamond field, occupies a surprisingly-large area. The field spans about the same area as three professional football fields. The area contains hundreds of smaller claims. It is a vast expanse of pits, pools, dirt piles, and downed trees. The voices of workers, busily digging, echo through the swamp.

To find diamonds, you have to look for diamond “soldiers.” Soldiers are protective spirits that lurk around diamonds and provide security and protection for them. When you see the soldiers, you know diamonds are close. According to tradition, a sacrifice of one sheep and one goat must be made to appease the spirits of the soldiers. Without the requisite sacrifice, the soldiers will defend their liege, and the diamond will avoid detection. However, once the proper sacrifice is made, the soldier will step aside, and the diamond can be located and captured.

Geologically-speaking, the soldiers are a certain type of rock that was created under conditions similar to diamonds. The two stones were created together, expelled together, and have travelled together for millenia. The particular mine we visited was established when a man began digging a well to get drinking water. In the resultant pile of dirt, mud, and gravel, he spied soldiers aplenty. A sacrifice was made, and the mine was established. The practice continues to this day. Each time a new claim is made, the official registration is followed by the traditional sacrifice of one sheep and one goat.

The land occupied by the diamond field is owned by a single family. They have lived in the area for decades, and they own the mineral rights to the land. Because the diamond field is so large, the family can not possibly do all the work. To get at the riches in their own backyard, they hire workers from all over Liberia to do the brunt of the work.

Diamond mining is hard. Finding a diamond requires digging a really big hole. Men form crews of four to six. A crew begins by sectioning off an area roughly forty feet square. Then they start digging. They remove the first couple feet of clay, casting it aside. Next, they excavate the two or more feet of gravel and rocks that lay beneath. All the while, they fight the onslaught of ever-seeping water. If available, gas-powered pumps clear the pit of water and silt. Some men dive for extended periods under the water, gathering gravel. They breathe by using an air-compressor to send air through a hose clenched in their teeth. All gravel and rocks from this second layer are piled carefully alongside the pit. It is this pile that will be sifted and washed to find the precious gems inside.

The washing process begins with shoveling the gravel into special boxes and pouring copious amounts of water over them. The boxes are fitted with metal screens filter out larger rocks. Then, the process is repeated with successively smaller screens. Buckets of water are dumped in the box. Unwanted material such as mud, silt, and even gold, are washed away. The end result is a multicolored pile of small pebbles.

The final and most dramatic step in the diamond-seeking process is called “jecking.’ This step employs a square-shaped screen that repeatedly dunked underwater and shaken. Small batches of pebbles from the previous step are dumped into the screen. All remaining dirt is rinsed away through the shaking of the screen. Worthless rocks are tossed out. The goal is to bring any diamonds into view. It is a time of great anticipation. All the group’s hard work comes down to these few moments. One man does the jecking. The others, plus onlookers from all around the mine, wait with bated breath.

Jecking with glee

The time it takes to dig a forty-by-forty pit is about one week. The work amounts to roughly 50,000 cubic feet of dirt, or 200,000 shovelfuls. It is strenuous, back-breaking work. Diamond mining consists of 50% digging and 50% hoping. Miners dig ten hours a day for six days a week, with one thing in mind: finding the big one. The dream – and for some, the obsession – keeps the crews going day after day. To find and sell a huge stone is their ticket to riches, respect, and absolute enjoyment.

Pointing out a Diamond Soldier

To sell a diamond, the miners deal with a “supporter” who makes weekly visits to the camp. The supporter is thusly-named because he provides fuel and food for the miners. He pays for everything and, in return, buys the diamonds produced at the mine. Most diamonds found at the mine are one carat or less. But even rough stones of this size can fetch $1000 USD. A few weeks prior to our visit, a crew unearthed a ten-carat diamond. It was a day of great jubilation. The supporter purchased the diamond for $25,000 USD.

The average crew finds one or two diamonds each week. That amounts to roughly $2000, half of which goes to the landowner, and half of which stays with the crew. Divided amongst the five crew members, each man comes away with $200 for the week. Considering the strain of the work, two hundred bucks seems like a paltry sum. On average, though, this is a decent wage in Liberia. With most of the country is living on a dollar a day, the wage from diamond mining can go a long way.

All these are one carat or less, but still valuable

Diamond mines have a notorious past in Africa. Historically, the sale of diamonds has fueled numerous violent conflicts in parts of western, central, and southern Africa. Diamond mines, commandeered by militant groups, provided the revenues to purchase weapons used in some of Africa’s most infamous campaigns. The term “blood diamonds” was born of these conflicts. In the diamond mines, forced labor at gunpoint was common. They were dangerous, often deadly places.

Today, the climate has changed. There is no more fighting in Liberia or Sierra Leone. There has been ten years of continuous peace in the region. People are free to move around, live their lives, and go to work. The diamond mine we visited is an example of the dramatic change the country has seen in the past ten years. The blood of the past has been washed away with the sweat of honest labor. The bounty of the land no longer equates to the spoils of war. Peace has descended, hope has returned, and the land’s wealth, at least on the small scale, remains in deserving hands.