The worsening economic crisis has led to a fall in global demand for commodities.
The price of copper, tin and even diamonds is plunging, meaning regions rich in minerals, such as Africa, are earning far less than they used to.
Some goods have lost 70 per cent of their value, and it is costing hundreds of thousands jobs in some of the poorest countries of the world.
Nicole Johnston reports.
afrol News - Huge diamonds found in DRC : "A Canadian mineral exploration firm, Mexivada Mining Corp, has reported the discovery of two large diamonds in its 100% controlled Malambani Permis de Recherche concession, located near Mayoko in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mexivada described the first stone as a white, modified octahedron 7.5 milimetres in diameter while the second stone was a shiny 6 milimetre greenish-white coloured dodecahedral diamond. Each of them weighs 0.1 gram"