According to most participants in the modern diamond industry, conflict diamonds are almost exclusively a thing of the past — and they want it to stay that way.

Conflict diamonds (also known as blood diamonds) were an integral and sordid part of the diamond trade during the 1990s, when militias in several African countries forced miners to produce diamonds in order to finance bloody civil wars. Since 2002, however, the diamond community has made sincere efforts to police itself and root out any stones tainted by association with war. Specifically, they’ve initiated the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, a watchdog group composed of major retailers, mine operators, and various national government agencies. The intent of the Kimberly Process is to track all diamonds from ground to jewelry store; and according to the participants, they’ve been able to root out nearly all the conflict diamonds in the trade, to the point that less than one percent can be classified as such.

Recently, however, there have been claims that the Kimberly Process has been suborned, and that illicit diamonds are being laundered through other nations by smugglers. This is particularly worrying to the industry in light of the recent Leonardo Di Caprio film “Blood Diamond,” which takes place against the background of Sierra Leone’s long, diamond-financed civil war, which ended in 2000. Already concerned that the movie will negatively impact the diamond trade, the industry is now facing rumors that stones from Zimbabwe are obtaining illicit Kimberly Process certifications. While it is not known as a major producer, Zimbabwe does contribute a significant, if small, portion of the world’s diamond harvest every year. The only operating Zimbabwe mine for which figures are available, Murowa, yielded less than 200,000 carats in the first three quarters of 2006: nothing to sneeze at, but hardly on a par with mines like Kimberly in South Africa or the brand-new Kao facility in Lesotho, which is expected to go into operation in February 2007.

The New York-based World Diamond Council, another industry watchdog group, is currently investigating reports that rough stones from Zimbabwe’s River Ranch mine and the neighboring Marange District have been smuggled into South Africa, certified as legitimate South African diamonds, and exported to foreign markets. However, a River Ranch mine spokesman denies that it is the source of any black market diamonds; in fact, the operation has yet to sell any diamonds at all in its most recent incarnation. Although River Ranch has yielded diamonds in the past, that operation failed in 1999 and went into voluntary receivership; only in June 2006 were mining operations restarted at the old mine. Those in charge of the operation at River Ranch have, however, promised to review their security systems in response to the allegations.

It’s not as if the purported Zimbabwe diamonds are traditional blood diamonds; internally, Zimbabwe is currently at peace, though it’s suffering through an economic crisis that has spawned widespread poverty and the highest inflation rate in the world. The problem is that if the allegations are true, then the integrity of the Kimberly Process is clearly being undermined. The selling point for the Kimberly Process, which includes nearly 50 governmental and non-governmental entities involved in the trade, is that it can ensure the origin and history of any diamond mined since its inception. Obviously, it’s in their best interests to plug any such holes in the Process, if they want their efforts to be seen as anything more than going through the motions.