Belgium: Belgian researchers have found a way to determine the origin of a diamond by laser, a breakthrough that could help fight the illegal sale of precious stones from conflict zones.
Researchers from the University of Ghent and the Diamond High Council in Belgium were able to figure out the chemical "fingerprint" of a diamond after making a tiny hole in it with a laser beam.
The print helps them identify the mine from which it has come because each precious stone has a chemical composition specific to an individual mine.
Rebel groups in countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo have used diamonds to finance wars and commit human rights abuses.
About 70 diamond-producing countries have agreed to curb the trade, and have a July 31st deadline to meet monitoring requirements or face a trading ban.
The Diamond High Council is based in the world's largest diamond distribution centre of Antwerp, Belgium.
It said in a statement that the researchers would need years to get a global picture as they had to analyse samples from every operational mine in the world.
It said so far they have analysed diamonds from Russia, Botswana, South Africa and Canada.
To complicate matters many diamonds are found on river beds hundreds of kilometres from where they originated.
Last month the UN Security Council decided to drop diamond sanctions against Sierra Leone, first introduced in July 2000, although the ban on exports of the gem from Liberia remains intact.
The council said the research results would be published soon in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectometry. - (Reuters)