On March 13, 2017, five artisanal diggers unearthed a 709-carat rough diamond near Koyardu, in eastern Sierra Leone — the world's 14th largest ever found. Its legal owner, Pastor Emanuel Momoh, refused every offer to smuggle it out, insisting it be sold openly so the benefits would reach his people.
The Sierra Leone Peace Diamond
Can diamonds
make the world a
better place?
— Martin Rapaport, Chairman, The Rapaport Group
709 ct
Rough carat weight of the recovered stone.
14th
Largest diamond ever discovered in the world.
5
Artisanal diggers who unearthed it near Koyardu.
The Peace Diamond Village.
Koyardu, in the Kono district — home to more than 250 residents whose lives were transformed by what came next.
- 01A new schoolEducation for the children of Koyardu and the surrounding area.
- 02A medical centerLocal healthcare access where there had been none.
- 03Wells & solar powerClean water and electricity for the whole community.
The real story
The sale of the Sierra Leone Peace Diamond represents a new future for the people of Sierra Leone.
— Martin Rapaport
Chairman, The Rapaport Group
The Mission
The Peace Diamond Trade Mission.
Led by Empower Africa, twice a year — bringing delegates to Sierra Leone to meet the diggers, the village, and the people behind the stone.
Learn more →Testimonials
I refused to let it leave the country in the dark. This diamond belongs to my people — and it would be sold for them.
This is how the diamond industry should work — value flowing back to the source, building schools, wells, and futures.
We got to see all the mining sites. Met with people and spoke to them and it was really an eye-opening experience. The takeaway from here is how people here work, what are the difficulties faced by them. After this trip I realised natural diamonds are a lot more precious than what we think.
This is by far the most interesting and most eye-opening business trip I have taken. We interacted with artists and miners on the ground. Asked them how does it feel to find a diamond, tried to know their emotions. It is important to know how this impacts their day-to-day life. So the key takeaway is to understand the emotion behind what we sell, what we trade in.
This trade mission is an opportunity for me to network, meet other diamantaires. We were able to exchange ideas. This country is beautiful. The people are amazing. Every trader that visited has fallen in love with this place and wants to contribute towards the betterment of this place.
It touches your feelings, changes your point of view on the diamond market and pushes you to do better things in this market. Now we know the hard work that goes behind all the mining. Also, the love that we received from these people is extraordinary.
It's wonderful for people in the retail jewellery business to see how the diamond industry works from the artisanal mine through where we are selling finished products. The towns we went to, the children we saw, the schools we saw really impressed me.
I really wanted to know more about the mining business and how the industry starts at the very beginning. Now, I have so many stories and so many learnings that people in the US do not know about like how the diamonds are mined, what conflict-free diamonds are? I can now go back and make them understand how things work here.