carbon crystals

?Ever since British geologists first discovered diamonds in Sierra Leone?s jungles in the 1930s, miners had been extracting some of the most valuable diamond wealth in the world from small muddy pits scattered throughout the surrounding rain forest. These small chunks and bits of milky-white carbon crystals are transformed into precious jewelry displayed on the hands, writst, necks, and ears of people around the world, many of whom have probably never heard of Sierra Leone. . . .

Most of those who live in Sierra Leone?s dense rain forests are farmers who have never set eyes on a diamond, but they have felt the stone?s impacts. Ever since diamonds were first discovered here in the 1930s the government has been unable to control the wealth for the benefit of its citizens, nor has it tried very hard to do so. Instead, the diamond fields have been plundered almost since they were first discovered, first by corporations, then by common thieves, and most recently by the armed thugs of the RUF [Revolutionary United Front].?

?Greg Campbell, Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World?s Most Precious Stones, 2002.