S.Leone diamond exports up 28 percent in 2010

FREETOWN: Sierra Leone diamond exports rose 28 percent in 2010 to 109 million dollars (80 million euros), the mining ministry said Monday, showing recovery after being hit by the global recession.

In a statement, the mineral resources ministry said diamond export figures showed "a slight increase of 28 percent for 2010 compared to 2009 which had a low export figure of 79 million US dollars."

Despite the increase, figures are still much lower than those in 2007 -- when exports reached 142 million dollars -- attributed to "the slow export and cost, due to the world recession, in prices per carat for diamonds which dropped significantly."

"In the Sierra Leone context, there has been a considerable cut down in artisanal diamond mining because surface mining does not yield" as much as before, said the statement.

However despite the constraints suffered by artisanal miners, diamond licence holders continue to invest in the mineral-rich country, which has worked hard to clean up its diamond industry after illegal trading of conflict-funding "blood diamonds" fuelled a decade-long civil war which ended in 2002.