Augustine Shekho

Lab-grown diamonds, produced 70 percent cheaper than mined gems, caused natural diamond prices to plummet 40 percent in four years, forcing Sierra Leone's largest mine closure and eliminating 1,000 jobs in the struggling Kono region.

Lab-grown diamonds have slashed natural diamond prices by 40 percent in four years, forcing Sierra Leone's largest mine to close and causing thousands of informal miners in Kono to struggle economically amid decades of conflict aftermath.