Artisanal miners dig a mining pit in 2013 in Fourona in Côte d’Ivoire. Peter Chirico/USGS
GovExec Daily: USGS is Fighting the 'Blood Diamond' Trade
Peter Chirico joins the podcast to discuss how the U.S. Geological Survey is tracking and surveying the mining and selling of blood minerals.
The term “blood diamonds” entered the popular lexicon in the past few decades, to be replaced somewhat by “blood minerals” or “conflict minerals.” In short, many armed groups and conflicts are financed and sustained by illegally selling mined resources like diamonds, gold, tungsten and other financially lucrative materials. The problem is international, and the United States Geological Survey is partnering with international organizations to track and monitor the conflict mineral trade worldwide.
Peter Chirico is associate director of the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center and special advisor to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Threat Finance Countermeasures. He joined the podcast to discuss the USGS efforts to combat the conflict mineral trade.
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