In world's diamond capital, little sparkles in fight against illicit mining

In the diamond capital of the world, a South African project to fight illegal mining is failing.

Kimberley, home to the largest man-made hole on earth, was supposed to serve as the blueprint for national efforts to stem illicit trade.

Launched 18 months ago, more than 800 unlicensed or informal small-scale miners were given the right to legally mine around 1,500 acres of diamond-rich waste fields.

But the project has been hit by violence, with miners not included in the scheme attacking infrastructure and even members of the licensed cooperative.

That's according to mine owner Ekapa Minerals, which is running the initiative.

Chief Executive Jahn Hohne.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) EKAPA MINERALS CEO, JAHN HOHNE, SAYING:

"We have literally fired many thousand rounds of rubber bullet shot-gun rounds to keep the illegal miners off our property on a regular basis and our fences are continuously being ripped out, removed or destroyed."

Illicit mining and mineral trading cost around $1.5 billion a year in lost sales, taxes, and royalties, according to the Minerals Council.

It was hoped that the Kimberley scheme would later be rolled out to help the gold, chrome and manganese sectors.

But bringing illegal miners, or "zama-zamas" as they're locally known, into the mainstream is proving difficult.

Those not part of the cooperative have stolen fences, petrol-bombed Ekapa trucks, blocked access to roads, and sabotaged a waste pipeline.

Members of the project, like informal miner Victor Taku, say they are also a target.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) INFORMAL MINER, VICTOR TAKU, SAYING:

"But the problem we are encountering now it is from other 'Zama-Zamas' (illegal miners). The other 'Zama-Zamas' when they come here and because they are not registered they want to enter this field with force and they come here with weapons and other came here with fire arms, other come here with a spade and everything like that."

South Africa is estimated to have tens of thousands of informal miners.

But its regulation of small-scale mining lags far behind its African counterparts like Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.

And with joblessness at an 11-year high and an economy in distress, campaigners are concerned over the project's failure.

They're calling on the government to provide clear policy on small-scale or artisanal mining, before it's too late.

Diamonds in the area of Kimberley mined by the cooperative are expected to run out in about five years.